Problem Girl
by QTR
Summary: When they all make you feel like you're a problem girl, remember you're no problem at all. AU CathSara. Takes place during their teenage years. Chapter 13 now up. Rating changed for content.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Problem Girl

**Rating: **T (rating may change in later chapters)

**Summary: **When they all make you feel like you're a problem girl, remember-- you're no problem at all.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing as usual, blah blah. CBS, Anthony Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer and some other important people that are not me own CSI: and all of it's properties and affiliates. I also don't own the song "Problem Girl" by Rob Thomas.

**Author's Notes: **This an an AU fic I wanted to try and write after listening to one of my favorite Rob Thomas songs, "Problem Girl". Music is often a huge inspiration, and I thought the song fit the character Sara Sidle perfectly in the eyes of Catherine Willows. This story takes place in the midst of Catherine and Sara's relationship; they're both teenagers and about the same age (hence the AU). I'm going to go into more detail in later chapters about how they met :) Hope you guys enjoy it!

Nursing a black eye she frantically ran to the bedroom and closed the door, wisely locking it behind her to sheild herself from the booming voices outside the door in the hallway. Her hands were shaking but she managed to pick up the receiver of the phone and dial in the correct numbers of the only person she thought to call. The only person who could help her.

It took a few rings, but there came an answer from the other line followed by a tired-sounding yawn, "Hello?"

"Cath, it's me. I--"

"Sara?" Catherine asked, sitting upright in bed and turning the lamp on that was sitting on the bedside table. "It's two in the morning," she explained, squinting to see the clock positioned on the wall. "What's going on?"

"Cath, I... I can't stay here," Sara told her. "They got into it again, and I tried to make them stop, but I couldn't. I just... I can't stay here!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Catherine told her, "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"I... I'm bleeding. I think."

"You _think_ you're bleeding? Jesus, Sara that's a big deal!" Just as she finished she heard a loud crash from the other line. "Sara? Are you okay?"

"I'm jumping through my bedroom window," Sara told her, already putting her jacket on with much difficulty. "They won't even notice I'm gone, but I can't stay here anymore."

"Hang on, give me five minutes," Catherine told her, remembering to keep her voice down so as not to wake her mother as she got out of bed and started looking around for clothes. "I'm going to come get you. Can you meet at the end of the block?"

"Y-Yeah, just hurry!"

After hanging the phone up Catherine grabbed the pair of jeans she had worn that day and a shirt that was lying in some desolate corner of her room before carefully slipping out of her bedroom down the hallway to the kitchen to get the keys to her mother's car. It was rare that Sara ever called her home, she knew that Sara's parents didn't really trust her with anything, certainly not a phone, but when she did, she knew it was because it was urgent.

It was no mystery that Sara's parents were messed up. Catherine wanted nothing more than to beat the living daylights out of them herself and see how they liked it. When Catherine had met Sara, it had been an accident. She had never really noticed her, but one day when a fight broke out in the hallways at the high school she broke it up. She was class president, and it was one of her many duties to maintain the hallways' sanity. She had been surprised when she had seen Sara in the middle of it, fists up and nose bloody.

Sara always had thought she was the problem girl; messed up family, no social skills, poster-child for anger management. But she always got good grades, the best in her class as a matter of fact, and Catherine knew the only reason Sara put on her daily "I'm going to kick your ass if you look at me funny" persona was because it was her coping mechanism. Inside she was the most wonderful person Catherine had ever known, and she was only sixteen. Every night she went to that hellhole called a home and had to see her parents, both of whom were never supportive and almost always intoxicated or doped-up.

As she pulled up to the end of the block next to the stop sign, Catherine saw Sara just a short distance away, wrapped in her ratty old leather jacket she wore almost everyday. She was hiding in the shadows of the bushes, no doubt so that her parents wouldn't be able to see her from the house if they even noticed she was missing. "Sara?" she asked, parking the car and opening her door up.

Sara stumbled toward her as best she could, and she could see that she was shaking despite her bulky jacket. She felt sick and disoriented; she couldn't remember what had happened exactly even though it had just happened. She remembered her father coming home, her mother saying some smart retort to him drinking again and then she felt a stinging sensation in her head. That was about it. The rest was all too fuzzy.

"Sara, whoa, slow down," Catherine told her, catching her just as she was about to fall over onto the dew-stained grass. "Here... I've got you." Wrapping one arm under her shoulders and keeping the other on her back to help steady her, Catherine slowly led Sara back to her waiting car, opening the passenger's side door up for her.

"I feel sorry for you..." Sara murmured as Catherine helped her inside.

"Why is that?" Catherine asked, puzzled. She thought it was the other way around.

"Because you're the one who has to drive this piece of crap around all day long and act like it's cool," Sara told her, some sort of smirk crossing her face before it contorted into a grimace of pain.

Catherine tried to laugh despite the circumstances. "Watch it, Sidle. One day, this could be your car." After Sara was situated, she closed the door and jogged around to the driver's side, getting in and turning the key in the ignition. In a matter of moments they were speeding out of Sara's neighborhood.

For a few minutes there was only silence. Sara was staring blankly out the window at unsignificant things; trees, bushes, a candy wrapper on the ground that missed the trash can, a newspaper dispenser. She was avoiding conversation so as not to aggravate the pounding in her head. Silence worried Catherine almost more than anything, because silence always meant something was wrong. But how could there not be, she thought?

Pulling the car over to the side of the road when they were a few miles away, Catherine pulled the key from the ignition and threw a glance over at Sara, who was still staring out the window. "Do you want to talk about it?" she quietly asked.

Sara slowly shook her head. Catherine wasn't surprised. She never wanted to talk. "Are you hurt?" she then asked. "You said you thought you were bleeding."

Sara finally looked away from the window to meet the strawberry blonde's gaze, and Catherine caught a glimpse of a mottle of purple and blue Sara had tried to hide underneath a patch of brown hair. "Can I see?" Catherine asked her, motioning to her own eye for indication. Sara simply nodded.

As gently as possible, Catherine leaned forward and tried to brush the hair away from Sara's face to see the extent of the bruises. Once she saw her black eye she gasped. "Sara..." Then she noticed the drying blood on the side of her face ending just under her cheekbone and her eyes followed it, almost afraid to find out where it was coming from. She didn't have to look hard before her eyes latched onto the cut on the side of her head above her ear. "Jesus Christ Sara what did they do to you!" Catherine exclaimed.

"I... I..." Sara could feel the tears stinging at her eyes and she tried to fight them back before they fell, but she didn't succeed. "I... I..." It was all she could really say.

"Oh Sara," Catherine whispered, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Sara gave in and let her tears overtake her, welcoming Catherine's warm and friendly embrace as she buried herself pitifully against her chest to sheild herself from the rest of the world. "Honey it's okay..." Sara always smiled when she called her 'honey'. Catherine was a year older than Sara, and it always made her feel like she was talking to her big sister when she called her that. But under these conditions, it never had the same context.

"I shouldn't have gotten involved," Sara whispered, shaking as Catherine tried to soothe her by running a hand up and down her back. "I should've stayed out of it! Why am I always so _stupid_?" Underneath that rock-solid barrier, her only defense against all the horrors of the real world lied her very foundation, the very mold that made Sara Sidle who she was. She tried to act tough, but she was fragile and broken. Catherine had vowed to try and pick up the pieces and put her back together again, to undo the damage that had already been done.

"Sara, it wasn't your fault this happened," Catherine whispered. "It never was. Trying to stop your father from hurting your mother does _not_ make you a bad person." After a few more minutes of soothing her, Catherine finally asked, "What happened?"

"Dad... Dad was drinking again," Sara tried to say between tears. She was still crying, but she could now form a coherent sentence without falling apart again. "Surprise, surprise right?" she laughed weakly. Catherine didn't laugh, she simply tried to mask the look of anger on her face. "I don't know, my mom must've said something... but it pissed him off. I heard her scream, and..." she choked back the sob that was rising in her throat again. "I came in and he was hitting her, and I tried to make him stop but..."

"What?" Catherine prompted, holding Sara as tightly as she was holding her.

"You... you know that small figurine on the mantlepiece that belonged to my grandfather?" Sara whispered. She hoped Catherine wouldn't hear her, but she heard her perfectly.

"...Which one?" Catherine nervously asked. "The soldier? Or the moose?" She already knew the answer to her question, and it made her hurt just thinking about it. The soldier had a miniature-sized bayonet, and the genius that had designed the damn thing made the tip of it razor sharp. She knew because she had bumped into it one day. When Sara looked up at her Catherine let out a sigh, gazing up at her wound. "The son of a bitch. I swear to God Sara, I'm not going to let him keep hurting you. I'm not just going to stand to the sidelines and act like nothing's going on anymore."

"What?" Sara's eyes widened in astonishment. One of their agreements when they had first met and gotten to talking was that everything that was said between them, stayed between them. She knew Catherine wanted to bite her father's head off but she promised not to interfere. Sara had convinced her it would only make things worse. CPS was not an alternative way of living. It was suicide. She would never survive in the system. "Cath, you said--"

"I know what I said Sara," Catherine growled. She wasn't angry at Sara; she could never be angry at Sara. She was seething with anger and hatred toward her parents. She hated them more than she ever thought humanly possible to hate someone. "You won't have to go into CPS, you can stay with me! But I can't just not do anything anymore!"

"Catherine, forget it, it's not your problem!" Sara told her, breaking out of her protective embrace with wide eyes. 

"Yes it _is_, Sara!" Catherine countered. "You're _my_ girlfriend, therefore it makes it _my_ problem!"

"Don't use that defense against me! I--" Sara was cut off by the sensation of Catherine's lips pressed against her own after she had lunged forward into the passenger's seat. She tried to protest but each time she opened her mouth to speak Catherine simply took advantage of the opportunity that had arisen and cut her off with her tongue. Seventeen and she had the most skilled tongue of anyone Sara had ever seen.

When Catherine finally pulled away from the kiss leaving Sara breathless, she tenderly looked into her eyes and brushed a gentle hand against the bruise forming around her eye. "I love you, Sara," she whispered. "Let me help you."

The tender look in her eyes, the sense of caring in her voice, the protectiveness in her tone- it all made Sara's eyes tear up again. She didn't know what she had done to deserve Catherine, but she wouldn't give her up for anything in the world. And that was why letting her help her was such a big decision. She didn't want Catherine to get hurt because of her, and her parents had no problem smacking her around as well.

"Sara, look at me," Catherine told her, watching her mind wander. "I know what I'm doing. I am _not_ going to get hurt."

"How do you know?" Sara whispered in disbelief. "How do you know that for sure? Cath, look at me... I don't want this to be you!"

"It's not going to be, Sara," Catherine explained. "You just have to trust me. You trust me, don't you?"

Sara opened her mouth to argue further, but no sound came out. She couldn't argue further, because she did trust Catherine. She trusted her more than she had ever trusted someone before. She had given Catherine her virginity. "...Cath, I swear if you get hurt, I'm never talking to you again." It was the most threatening thing she could think of.

Catherine let out a sigh of relief, shooting Sara a small smile. "Well that won't be happening anytime soon, so don't worry about it. Besides, you couldn't go one day without talking to me." Sara finally shot her her signature glare that made them both laugh. "Come on, I'm taking you to my place," Catherine told her, putting the car back in drive. "My mother can sleep through a thunderstorm, so it'll be fine."

"Thank you, Cat," Sara whispered, leaning over and resting her head on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Sara," Catherine softly told her, planting a small kiss on the top of her head, inspecting the gash on her head as she did so. "But let's get out of here."

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, thanks so much guys for the response! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. Here's a new chapter :)**

"Okay Sara, come on, let's get inside the house," Catherine told her, keeping a steadying hand on her back as she led her toward the back entrance of her house. She knew her mother was still asleep because there weren't any lights on, so chances were she hadn't even realized she was gone yet.

"Where are we?" Sara murmured, her arm loosely hanging over Catherine's shoulders. She was half-asleep now, and the pounding in her head was making it difficult to remember much. Catherine had just told her the answer, but it slipped right off the tip of her tongue.

"Shh, don't worry about it," Catherine whispered, jimmying the lock on the gate to their backyard. She hadn't told anyone, but it was quite easy to break into. If she had told anyone, it would've prevented her from sneaking out at night anymore. After they had walked through the backyard Catherine reached under the welcome mat for the spare key, using it to unlock the back door as quietly and steathily as possible.

"It smells like laundry," Sara mumbled a bit too loudly for Catherine's liking as they passed through the laundry room.

"Sara, you have to be quiet," Catherine whispered, trying to maneuver them both down the hallway in the dark. After walking on eggshells past her mother's bedroom, she managed to make it to the end of the hallway to her own room where she carefully helped Sara lay down on her bed. "Sara? Are you still awake?"

"Trying to get me into bed already?" Sara coyly asked, a silly smile on her face.

Catherine rolled her eyes. She didn't know if it was the bump on her head, or the fact that Sara was half-conscious, but she sounded drunk. "Please, Sara. I've already gotten you into bed." _And the closet, and the back seat of her car, and the football field behind the school. _"I need to get you cleaned up."

Leaving Sara laying on the bed, Catherine grabbed a towel from the bathroom and turned on the faucets, wetting it thoroughly and searching around for the first-aid kit she kept. After grabbing everything she walked back into her room and turned on the lamp beside her, sitting down on the bed next to Sara's side. "Sara, I need you to turn your head so I can clean the cut."

Sara complied, too tired to really complain or argue, and Catherine tenderly brushed the hair away from her face and couldn't help but wince at the large gash on the side of her head. It had looked bad in the car, but now that she was inspecting it in the light it looked much worse. "Oh Sara," she sighed, gently rubbing her cheek with her thumb. After rubbing away the dried blood around her cheek, she started to clean the cut so it didn't get infected. This made Sara stir.

"Fuck..." Sara ground out through gritted teeth. Sara did have a potty mouth. But that just made her all the more attractive. "Little warning here..."

"Sorry," Catherine sweetly replied, trying to hide her smile. "You should watch that mouth you know."

"Whatever," Sara grumbled, wincing as Catherine pressed the rag against her cut again. "Ow! I hate you."

"No you don't," Catherine smiled, removing the rag so she could get a bandage. "You love me, and you know it. At least you're coherent now. You were sounding drunk a few minutes ago." Unwrapping a small roll of bandage, she turned Sara's head to the side so she could get a better view of the wound. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion?"

"No more so then I ever do," Sara dryly replied. Catherine shot her a look as she wrapped a small portion of the bandage-- a little too tightly-- around her head. "Shit!" Sara cursed. "What was that for!?"

"You know I don't like it when you joke about that," Catherine growled. "You're hurt, so don't make it sound like a joke!" She knew it was Sara's way of trying to forget what had happened; she always did this. She would try and make some sort of sarcastic remark and brush it aside. But Catherine always remembered every night, every injury, every phone call. And every night, it just boosted John and Laura Sidle's place on her kill list significantly.

"...I'm sorry," Sara finally said with a sigh. "I am... I didn't mean to--"

"It's fine," Catherine shortly said, snipping the rest of the bandage with a small pair of scissors after she had taped it into place. "You should get some rest now."

"Cath?" Sara whispered, putting a hand on her arm before she could move away. "...I love you."

Catherine finally smiled just a little. "I love you too, Sara. Get some sleep now, though okay?" With that she turned and headed back toward the bathroom with the first-aid kit.

----

**"Mom-- slept in the living room on the couch. Some cats were fighting last night next to my window and kept me up. -- Cath."**

Catherine had left the note for her mother on her closed bedroom door so that she wouldn't walk in in the morning and find Sara lying in her bed. Even though Lilly had met Sara before, and seemed to like her, Catherine knew Sara wasn't prepared for her to find out about her parents yet. It had taken her a long time to even open up to Catherine about it.

So she slept on the couch in the livnig room as the note said, covered in one of the worn quilts her grandmother had sewn. She would've much preferred to have slept with Sara, but again, she knew she couldn't. She had told Sara to wake her up in the middle of the night if she needed her, which she knew she wouldn't do-- Sara Sidle did not ask for help. So instead she had gotten up every time she woke up in the middle of the night to check on her. She was relieved to find her sleeping through the night.

"Catherine!" Lilly stood in the middle of the living room with her hands on her hips. Her tone made her daughter jump and snap awake immediately. "Time to get up, honey. Breakfast is ready."

"Oh," Catherine mumbled, tiredly wiping at her eyes as her mouth opened wide with a yawn. Since she had spent most of the night checking on Sara, she hadn't gotten much sleep herself. But she knew Sara needed it much more than she did. "Thanks Mom."

"You look tired, are you staying up late again?" Lilly asked as she moved into the kitchen to pour herself a mug of coffee.

"No, Mother, I'm not," Catherine sighed, following her into the kitchen with another yawn. "So what did you make?" She had to scan the menu first to make sure it was enough food to replenish Sara.

"Bacon, eggs, toast, the usual," Lilly replied, blowing on her steaming coffee before taking a sip.

"Perfect." Grabbing a plate from the table Catherine walked over to the stove and took a large portion of eggs, two pieces of toast and enough bacon to give someone a heart attack. Setting that down she grabbed the carton of orange juice from the fridge and poured a large glass before heading down the hallway with Sara's breakfast.

"Don't spill anything!" Lilly called over her shoulder.

"I won't!" Catherine called back. Once down the hallway she managed to open the door with her hands full, quietly walking inside. She blinked when she saw an empty bed. "Sara?" she whispered, setting the food down on the bedside table. "Where are you?"

Her bedroom window was open, so she headed that way and was hit by the strong smell of cigarettes. She threw her legs over the side of the window and slipped outside.

"Thought you said you'd quit," Catherine said.

Sara was leaning against the back of the house with her jacket on, a lit cigarette between her lips. There was a pack in her hand that looked about empty. "I did." She removed the cigarette and blew the smoke from her smoke, glancing over at her. "I stopped smoking a pack a day. Now I only smoke half."

Catherine couldn't help but laugh as she walked over and took the cigarette from her hand, making Sara immediately protest. "Come on. I've got some breakfast for you in the house. You're disturbing the neighbors."

"This _was _breakfast," Sara explained. "And the neighbors can kiss my--"

"Yeah right." Catherine motioned to the window. "Inside, now. Eat."

After practically shoving Sara back inside the house, she managed to get her to nibble on a few bites of toast. "How are you feeling today?" Catherine asked her, motioning to her head for indication.

"Better," Sara said, setting the half-eaten piece of toast down on the plate. "Still hurts, but what are you going to do, right?"

"I can get you some aspirin before I have to leave for class," Catherine told her.

"_We_ have to leave for class," Sara corrected her.

"Sara," Catherine sighed. "You can't possibly believe that I'm going to let you go to high school hell with that giant bump on your head. You could get hurt. You need to stay here and rest."

"I've had worse," Sara muttered. The sad thing was, she was right. "Really Cath, I appreciate your concern, but seriously, it's fine. However, I do look like I just got hit by a truck." Glancing over at the vanity in the corner, she sheepishly smiled. "Can you work your magic?"

Catherine pursed her lips. Any excuse she had to smother Sara in make-up she would use, but Sara was now volunteering. It would've been a dream come true if it hadn't been for the reason she was wanting it. "...Fine," she finally sighed. "But no getting into fights today. I mean it. You're in no shape to be kicking _anyone's_ ass."

"I'll behave if they do," Sara simply smiled.

---

"Hold still," Catherine hissed at Sara who was moving away from the giant glob of concealer she was trying to rub over the bruised skin around her eye.

"You're getting it everywhere!" Sara told her.

"For God's sake Sara, just stay still! You wanted me to do this!" Catherine told her. Finally just grabbing the side of her face, she rubbed it over her target and began to rub it in. "There. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Says you," Sara muttered, a small smile playing at her lips. She always acted like she didn't like Catherine trying to doll her up, but she did enjoy it from time to time. Catherine always made her feel pretty.

After layers of heavy make-up to try and hide the bruise around Sara's eye, she was finished. "There," Catherine sighed. "Finished."

"Wow," Sara said, her eyes widening as she looked at herself in the mirror. "It feels like I have a new face, but you can't see it!"

"Sara," Catherine tried. When Sara was still admiring her handiwork in the mirror, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Sara, baby, look at me."

That got Sara's attention. "What is it, Cath?"

"...This is the last time I'm helping you cover this up," Catherine said. Silence followed. "I mean it. You remember what I said last night, well I meant it. I'm not going to continue to stand around and act like nothing's going on. If this happens again, that's it."

"Okay," Sara said. Then abruptly changing the subject, "Look! It's almost time for class, we should get going." She stood up and pecked Catherine on the lips.

Catherine just sighed as Sara walked off. _Damn._

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews guys. I just had to include Eddie in this chapter, I couldn't help myself. Hope you guys enjoy it :)**

"Quit messing with it," Catherine hissed into Sara's ear as they walked through the hallway. She had given Sara a baseball cap to wear to school that day to cover the giant gash on the side of her head and her makeshift bandage.

"This stupid things itches," Sara grumbled, and, despite Catherine's advice, was still rubbing the hell out of it.

"I said stop it," Catherine finally nudged Sara-- hard-- with her elbow to get her to stop. She stopped, but grudgingly.

"Now I can see why they made you class president," Sara muttered as they maneuvered their way down the hallway, stepping over books lying on the floor and backpacks proving as obstacles in their way. "Say no and you'll elbow them to death."

"Oh stop it," Catherine growled. "So what class do you have first?"

"Calculus," Sara announced. "It should go by smoothly so long as that creep from biology isn't sitting behind me again."

"He have a thing for you?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow. "Should I be concerned?"

Sara groaned. "Don't make me think about it, he's a perv. His name is Eddie, and he's a real asshole, and no, you shouldn't be concerned. He's a pig."

"Sounds like it," Catherine couldn't help but grin. "So listen, I've got my mother's car so after class I'll take you over to my place. My mother shouldn't care so long as she knows that I didn't smuggle you in like last night."

"And what sort of lame excuse are you going to make up to get us alone together in your room?" Sara couldn't resist asking. "'We need to study for an exam tomorrow so in order to get the best possible grade I need to keep my door locked and wear my extra tight pair of jea--'" Sara would've continued her teasing remarks if it hadn't been for the outstretched foot in the middle of the hallway that she tripped over.

Purposely-outstretched feet in the middle of the hallways weren't new to Sara, but they still managed to piss her off all the same each time.

"You okay?" Catherine asked, kneeling down to help her up and gather the books she had dropped.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sara growled, getting to her knees and searching around the black sneaker that had ultimately been the cause of her fall. "But Mr. Black Sneaker isn't."

"Sara," Catherine warned.

But Sara didn't listen, getting to her feet and turning around to search for who had tripped her. "Speak of the devil," she hissed.

"You should watch where you're going, Sidle," Eddie sneered, now leaning against one of the lockers in the middle of the hallway. "You could get hurt."

"You bas--" Catherine cut Sara off and pulled her back as she made a move toward him. Sara had such a short temper, that it was good to stop her before it started. Otherwise many peolpe would end up with black-eyes and bloody-noses, one of them being Sara.

"Sara, that's _enough,_" Catherine told her, pulling her away forcefully by her shoulders. "Come on, just ignore him." Sara shot one more of her signature "if looks could kill" glares before turning and walking away with Catherine after taking the books she had dropped.

"Nice hat, Sidle!" Eddie laughed at her as she turned and walked away.

"Just ignore them, it's fine, he's fine not worth it," Catherine whispered into Sara's ear as they continued down the hallway. She knew it was taking every fiber of her being and every last ounce of restraint not to pummel him. Eddie was a very, very lucky guy.

Listening to Catherine's routine anger management coaching was slowly but surely calming Sara down, even if she wouldn't admit it. She just had to figure out now how she was going to make it through the rest of the day wearing this ridiculous hat on her head, and how she was supposed to explain the gigantic bruise she would be getting on her hand later to Catherine from where she would have punched the brick wall behind the school in anger.

Manging to restrain herself until then, Sara pulled the brim of her hat down over her face as the bell rang for classes to start.

---

"Peanut butter or ham and cheese?" Catherine asked Sara, holding up the two sandwiches she had made that morning before they left for school. It was now lunchtime, and they were sitting outside at their routine eating area-- under the trees behind the science club. It was shady and no one was ever there, so it was peaceful and quiet.

"Don't care, whichever you don't like," Sara shrugged. Catherine handed her the peanut butter and jelly. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Since Sara's parents not only didn't trust her but were getting closer and closer to the point of bankruptcy after every six-pack they purchased, Sara never had any money for lunch or had anything from home she could bring to school to eat. Then most mornings, she left before her parents had even woke up to avoid them. She was eternally grateful that she was just getting food.

"No problem," Catherine told her, taking a bite of her own sandwich. "So what are you reading?" Sara had been engaged in a textbook ever since Catherine had rescued her from her last class.

Sara liked books, particularly textbooks. She often borrowed them from class to take home with her on bad days. There she hid in her closet with a flashlight and put herself in another place. Reading about the cold war took her mind away from the raging war going on just outside her bedroom door. Reading about the Quantum Theory in her physics textbooks helped mute out the shouting.

"_Introduction to Advanced Trigonometry_," Sara told her, taking a small bite from her sandwich. "Just got it today."

"Figures," Catherine laughed. "How can you read something like that? I've always hated math."

"But you're good at it," Sara pointed out. Closing her book, she set it down on the grass beside her. "Math is easy; math is precise. All it is is a series of numbers jumbled up with a few fancy mathematical symbols. It's like a puzzle. And guess who gets to solve it?" she grinned.

"Spoken like a true nerd," Catherine sighed, shaking her head.

"Hey," Sara playfully nudged her with her foot. "Takes one to know one."

After twenty minutes of a peaceful lunch, the bell rang indicating it was time to go back to class.

Sara let out a sigh. "Time for calculus... guess who I get to see?"

"Hey, like I said, just ignore him," Catherine told her, getting to her feet and brushing the grass and dirt off of her jeans. "He's not worth it. He's an ass."

"Told you," Sara said, grabbing her textbook off the grass. As she got to her feet she let out a sigh, brushing off the backs of her torn jeans. "I'll meet up with you after last period, then."

"Okay," Catherine nodded in agreement, slinging her bag over her shoulder as they walked off toward the hallways across the campus. _Oh great..._ Unfortunately, there waiting for them by the hallways were Eddie and his friends. When she saw Sara tense she grabbed her arm as a restaint and pulled her past them as quickly as possible. Sara couldn't ever get a break.

"Hey Catherine!" Eddie called over his shoulder. When Catherine didn't respond, he scoffed and muttered under his breath, "bitch."

Muttering or not, it was loud enough for Sara to hear who immediately yanked her arm out of Catherine's grasp and ran full speed at Eddie.

Catherine didn't have time to stop her or even blink before she had punched him across the face.

"Whoa, Sara, stop!" Catherine had grabbed both her shoulders now and was using all her strength to pull her back from Eddie was now outstretched in the middle of the hallway clutching a bloody nose.

"Crazy bitch!" Eddie shouted, "I'll get you! Both of you! And you're going to love what I'm going to do to Catherine!"

"FUCK YOU!" Sara screamed at him. She was tugging and pulling at Catherine's restraining arms like a raging bull. It was one thing to talk about her like that; she had heard a lot of things, it was nothing new. But to talk about Catherine was something completely different... and to threaten her was a death sentence. Catherine was all she had anymore. "You try anything and you'll regret the minute you--"

"Sara, ENOUGH!" Catherine finally shouted at her once she heard footsteps. She hadn't noticed it before but now the entire school was crowded around the two watching the scene unfold, yelling and cheering and chanting undecipherable phrases. The commotion had attracted the attention of the school's administrator.

"_What_ is going on here?" he asked, stepping inbetween Eddie who was still clutching his broken nose and Sara who was being restrained by Catherine.

"Sir, please--" Catherine tried but he interrupted her.

"Eddie, for god's sake go to the nurse," he motioned behind them to the nurse's office that was at the front administration building. "Sara, come with me." Sara looked at Catherine but did not move. "_Now_."

Sara finally pulled away from Catherine and started following the principal down the hallway. She wished she could just crawl into a hole and die right then and there. It was like walking on death row. She knew there was going to be a consequence for her actions, but when the principal got involved, that always meant a phone call home. Her parents were not the understanding type.

"Wait," Catherine said, jogging up behind them. "With all due respect Sir, I think it would be best if I went with her. I was a witness, and as class president it's my responsibility."

"Catherine, you've got classes," he replied. "Sara is perfectly capable of going on her own."

"I don't care," Catherine firmly said, standing her ground. "I'm going with her."

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys, I've been busy what with the new premiere and what-not :D Here's a new chapter, it's a bit darker than the others. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

"What's taking him so damn long?"

Sara and Catherine had been sitting in the front administration building's office for what seemed like eternity. In reality it had only been about twenty minutes, but every minute was painstakingly-long for Sara. The principal seemed to despise her-- the only thing keeping him from giving her detention everyday was the fact that she got the best marks in the entire school, Catherine coming in right behind her. But as far as Sara was concerned, he was a no-good lying dirty--

"Bastard," Sara muttered. She had her legs clutched up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them to assume her regular position of insecurity.

"Shh Sara, he might hear you," Catherine sighed, sitting impatiently beside her in one of the plastic chairs next to his office. "The last thing you need is another strike against you."

"Tch yeah, like that's going to make a difference," Sara rolled her eyes. "He hates my guts, Cath. You know how he is."

"I know, but I might be able to talk some sense into him," Catherine explained. "So just relax, and stop gnawing on your thumb." Sara removed her thumb from her mouth begrudgingly. It was funny, Catherine thought, how she and Sara were a couple. It was a classic opposites-attract story-- Catherine had come from a well-developed high-class (and fairly wealthy from the money her father had left them) home, Sara had come from a poor home in the slums of town. Catherine had money to buy clothes when she needed them; Sara was forced to recycle old clothes that appeared as though they had come from the Salvation Army. One day Catherine had actually spotted her wearing an old sports t-shirt with the name "JACKSON" inscribed on the back that Sara had tried to blot out with a black marker.

Catherine was the good girl with large groups of friends and a seemingly never-ending social circle that was always growing. Sara was the problem girl and had no friends, in fact she had never had a friend at all unless you could call the old torn teddy bear sitting in her bedroom a friend. Catherine was talkative and full of life; Sara was quiet and reserved. Catherine was the light and Sara was the darkness it seemed. But Catherine knew that wasn't true-- Sara just needed some reason to come out of her shell and the second she smiled the entire room lit up.

Catherine never knew much about her father and her mother never talked about him much, but compared to how Sara's parents were, Catherine was glad she just had one parent that was sane. When they had first met and had become good enough friends to where Sara was finally comfortable around her, Catherine had asked her one day why she never wanted to go study at her own house. They had arranged to bring their textbooks and notes and study together twice a week regularly at Catherine's home and three times a week before tests. Her answer had left her confused and slightly concerned:

_"My parents... wouldn't like that. They don't like a lot of visitors, it distracts them from their mindless bea--"_

And just as Sara caught herself, she changed the subject by asking what time it was.

And so whenever Sara caught herself giving away too much information or found herself in an awkward situation, she always changed the subject by asking what time it was. It was a simple question, she figured, and it was a way to distract not only the person she was talking to but herself from the actual reality of what was going on. Usually, if she was really lucky, she could make up some excuse by saying she had to be somewhere. The first day she had come to school with a new bruise on her face and Catherine had asked what happened, she asked for the time and then said she had to go to class. The next week she came to school with strange cuts on her wrists, Sara explained that she was late for a doctor's appointment to get them checked up and had to go.

By the next month, Catherine knew something was up... or perhaps she always had and just wasn't brave enough to confront Sara about it herself. But eventually Sara ran out of excuses and Catherine learned the truth. Her parents wouldn't send her to the doctor unless it was an emergency trip to the hospital-- minor things she just had to suck up. Then Catherine discovered the mysterious cuts on her arms had been self-inflicted, and after that Sara told her everything she wanted to know and more.

"God he takes forever," Sara grumbled impatiently, snapping Catherine out of her reverie. "Can you believe him? He's probably checking up on Eddie to make sure he's fine and dandy..."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Catherine mused, and she had to work quite hard to try and keep from smiling. "You socked him pretty hard."

"I did, didn't I?" Sara asked, shooting Catherine a grin. "Did you see him? He was crying like a little baby, I hope his friends all saw it!"

"Someone's torn up about it," Catherine giggled. "I'm not condoning what you did, but... damn you've got a strong arm, don't you?"

"Well he threatened you," Sara shrugged, turning to look back down at some interesting insect crawling on the floor in front of her. "He should've known better. He can talk about me, but..."

"Well thank you, I appreciate it," Catherine smiled, and Sara smiled back. "Just from now on, pick your battles. Someone calling me a bitch is not the end of the world." Sara was about to protest, but Catherine changed the subject. "So when we get in there, I'm going to do the talking, is that understood Miss Sidle?"

"Whatever," Sara rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious Sara," Catherine told her. "The last thing we need is you to piss him off more with that mouth of yours. Let me handle this."

"Fine," Sara agreed. That was a first. "I just don't want you to get in trouble for this, Cath... he's going to wonder why you're defending me. He's always watching me like a hawk, you know?" she sighed and shifted in her chair for a more comfortable position. "And you didn't punch him, so don't go trying to act like it was your fault either, okay?"

"Do I look like the sort of gal who likes to get her hands dirty, Sara?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sara, I really don't give a damn whether or not I get in trouble for this. The truth was Eddie was in the wrong and you were provoked. And quite frankly, I'm very flattered that my girlfriend was there to defend my honor despite the consequences." She had to laugh at the smirk Sara shot her way.

"Okay," Sara smiled. "But I still hope you don't get in trouble, because you were a damn fine class president. They may have to "relieve you of your duties" for defending me."

"It's a small price to pay, Sara," Catherine chuckled.

---

"Catherine, are you sure you don't want to go back to class?" Mr. Baker, the school administrator, had finally called Catherine and Sara into his office and had been pushing for Catherine to go back to class, but she refused each time, simply moving her chair closer to Sara's.

"I'm sure," she simply replied. "I was there as a witness, and I feel it would be best for you to hear my side of the story as well."

"Okay," he nodded. He seemed satisfied with that answer. As he turned away to grab some files from behind his desk Catherine swatted Sara with her hand to get her to stop making obscene gestures with a particular finger.

"Sara." He turned his chair back to face the two and held a rather thick file in his hands, presumably Sara's. Sara was surprised she even had a file. "This is the third time I've seen you in my office this month. Do you recall the past two visits?"

Sara had now decided she very much liked the baseball cap Catherine had given her to wear that day, as it effectively hid her face and the death glare she was shooting in Mr. Baker's direction under the brim. She simply replied with "I guess."

With a sigh he set her file down and leaned forward from his desk. "Mind taking that hat off? I can't hear you."

At this Sara instantly shot a look in Catherine's direction and felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. From the angle she was sitting at if she removed the hat now he would have full view of the huge cut on the side of her head.

"No," Sara told him quickly. He raised an eyebrow and she tried to think of something else to say so he didn't think she was mouthing off. "I... I mean, I... I just..."

"Of course," Catherine interrupted. "She can take it off." Sara shot a look in her direction and Catherine just nodded. Catherine knew what she was thinking, clearly, and from the look she was sending Sara's way she had a plan. "Go ahead Sara."

Reluctantly and as slowly as possible, Sara removed the hat from her head, waiting for Mr. Baker to start asking questions about how she got it, already hearing the sounds of police sirens speeding down the road, the smell of the hospital emergency room filling her senses. But just as she took it off Catherine reached over and pulled down a large amount of brown hair, covering it just enough. "You had something in your hair," she explained and turned back to look at Mr. Baker who simply nodded.

"Thank you," he replied. "Now Sara, where were we? Ah yes, your past two visits..." he started shuffling more papers around. Sara was still shocked and highly impressed at Catherine's brilliant plan (and thus turned on) and could only nod in response. "This past month you've come to see me for harrassing a teacher and a complaint made by a student."

"Which was complete bullsh--" Sara started but Catherine fixed her stumble.

"And now this is her third visit," Catherine told him.

"Yes..." he shot a glance over at Sara. "I have already gone to see Eddie in the nurse's office, and he was still bleeding when I got there. It's highly possible that his nose is broken." Sara threw a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't start laughing. Served him right. "From what he told me, he was simply asking Catherine out to the dance at the end of the year and you punched him."

"That's not true," Sara immediately said. "That little pri--"

"--What Sara's _trying_ to say," Catherine interrupted once more, shooting an annoyed glance at Sara, "Is that there's a lot more to the story than that. Go ahead and tell him, Sara."

Sara was silent for a few moments, perhaps out of stubborness, but she finally spoke. "Catherine and I had just finished lunch, and we were heading off to our afternoon classes. Eddie had tripped me in the hallway earlier this morning, and I was still upset about it. Just as we got into the hallway, he called after Catherine but she didn't hear him. As we were walking away he called her a bitch." Sara shifted uncomfortably in her chair, something she did quite often when she felt out of her element. She didn't like being put on the spot. "I... I guess I just lost my temper and I punched him."

Mr. Baker nodded, pursing his lips. "Is that all?"

"No," Sara shook her head. "After I punched him, he threatened Catherine."

"_Both_ of us," Catherine pointed out.

"The point is, he threatened Catherine's life," Sara told him. "And that was why I got so angry."

Mr. Baker nodded, looking from Sara to Catherine. "Is this true, Catherine?"

Catherine nodded. "Yes Sir, all of it."

Mr. Baker sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Now Sara, I'm not saying I approve of what you did. I wish you would have handled it differently, but I can certainly understand your frustration and your position. I just wish you would've handled it another way."

"I understand Sir," Sara replied.

"Now I'm not going to send you to detention this time," he continued. "...But I think it would be wise for you to speak with the school counselor every week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She's just down the hall of this building, and she's very good."

"She will," Catherine stated for Sara herself. "Thank you Mr. Baker, we appreciate it." She wasn't going to give Sara room to argue with this-- as much as she knew Sara disliked counseling or anything that had to do with shrinks, it was better than another mark on her record for losing her temper.

"Is that all?" Sara asked through gritted teeth. She knew what he had meant to say about the shrink, and it wasn't just that she was "very good". He meant to say "very good with hopeless cases".

"Just that we had to make a phonecall to your parents," Mr. Baker replied. "Your father is on his way down to the office as we speak. He should be here any--" Just as he was about to continue the door to his office opened and John Sidle walked through the doorway, looking about as clean and professional as anyone would ever see him wearing a freshly-pressed tie and slacks and a clean shirt he wore when he was working at the bank. "Ah, Mr. Sidle! Thank you for coming down on such short notice. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you." Catherine moved closer to Sara so that they were closer to the far corner of the office rather than the front. Sara hadn't said a word since he had arrived, but her eyes said a million. She had subconsciously reached for Catherine's hand and was clutching it with her own that was shaking.

Catherine didn't know what it was, but John Sidle certainly had an intimidating quality about him. He was currently clean-shaven and freshly-showered. He was tall, about 6'4", and had a masculine build except for the bulge in his stomach due to his chronic alcoholism. His voice was harsh and musky, and his teeth left much to be desired with one missing and one substituted with a gold implant.

Catherine could clearly see why Sara was so terrified of him. And if Sara was terrified, Catherine was terrified.

After Mr. Baker had finished explaining everything to Sara's father, he nodded his understanding and shot him a small smile-- fake, Sara noted-- and thanked him for taking the time to call him down to the office. "I do appreciate you keeping an eye on her," he chuckled heartily as he reached out and shook Mr. Baker's hand with his powerful vice-like grip. "She can be a little trouble-maker, you know. Ever since she was a little kid she's always been gettin' into trouble!"

"She's a fantastic student Mr. Sidle, you should be proud," Mr. Baker replied.

"Well thanks again, and I'll certainly talk to her about it," John told him. Turning around, he looked over at Sara who was cowering in the furthest darkest corner of Mr. Baker's office, wishing she could just disappear and never be found. "Come on Sara, let's get you home. Your mother was worried sick that you had gotten hurt!"

The grip Sara had on Catherine's hand tightened considerably. "I... I still have classes."

"But you're such a good student, that shouldn't be a problem," he smiled, holding his hand out to her. When she didn't move he waved her over. "Come on now Sara, don't make me wait. The car's out front."

And Sara's heart dropped into her gut and incinerated into a molten pile of black goo. Helpless, defeated, powerless goo. Getting to her feet she threw one more glance at Catherine before taking her father's hand hesitantly, her own body still shaking.

"Goodbye Mr. Sidle!" Mr. Baker called out as they left. "Goodbye Sara! See you tomorrow!" Sitting back down at his desk, he sighed. "Now Catherine, you should be getting back to class by now--"

But she was already gone.

---

Once they were out of earshot John had released his hold on Sara's hand, instead gripping her arm and yanking her struggling and pulling form to the alley behind the school where he actually had the car parked. He hadn't said a word since they left Mr. Baker's office and was barely batting an eyelash at Sara's pitiful attempts at escape.

Once they were in the back alley with a smooth, quick violent gesture he had shoved Sara into the middle of the gravel. "What the hell have you done wrong now you ungrateful little bitch?"

"Daddy, I, I'm sorry, I--" Sara was shaking more than ever now, barely able to breathe let alone form a coherent sentence as she stumbled to get back on her feet. "I didn't mean to--"

He silenced her with a strong blow from the back of his hand to her cheek. "Now don't you lie to me Sara! You know what happens when people lie."

"Daddy, please," Sara pleaded, close to tears. He was advancing on her like a tiger about to make its kill. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upse--"

He never gave her the chance to talk and instead lashed out at her with his car keys that he had been clutching in his hand. The tip struck Sara across the face and her left cheek was dripping blood in an instant. As she let out a cry of pain he shoved her against the chain-link fence and she instantly grew silent, occasionally letting out small whimpers of pain. "Do you know how much I've sacrificed for you and your whore of a mother?" he hissed into her ear. His putrid breath reeked of his usual whiskey and Marlboro cocktail and she grimaced. "I've given up _everything_ just so you can have a bed to sleep in at night!"

"Daddy please--" Sara sobbed but he simply squished her face up against the fence again and she grew silent.

"If it were up to me you would be out on the streets whoring yourself out just to be able to eat everyday so I never had to see your face again," he growled. "But your bitch of a mother won't let me. Some day you're going to be just like she was though, a slut, a nothing, a--"

"You're _wrong_!" Sara finally choked out. "You're _wrong_! I'm _not _ a slut! Mom was _not_ a--"

He shoved her into the fencing again and she let out another whimper, instantly growing silent. "What was that?" he hissed. "Because as far as I'm concerned that's all you are. A good-for-nothing ungrateful little slut!"

"Daddy, _stop_!" Sara's voice had been reduced to a mere whisper from the weight of her tears. Just as she felt his hands run over her chest another voice was heard.

"Sara!"

John immediately released his death grip on his daughter and Sara wisely moved away from the fence, grateful for the distraction but now filled with a new wave of worry. "Cath, y-you need to get back to class!" she sputtered.

Catherine quickly walked over to Sara, meeting her halfway and placing a hand on her cheek, wiping blood away with her fingertips. "Oh my god, Sara," she whispered so that her father would not hear.

"Go," Sara practically begged her, "Please, just go. He's going to--"

"Sara, honey," John spoke up, now sitting in the driver's seat of the car. "Come on, let's go home. Say goodbye to your little friend!"

Sara had no choice and walked doomfully around to the passenger's seat.

"Wait!" Catherine shouted, running after her. "Sara, wait a minute! Mr. Sidle--" The car sped off and Catherine had to jump out of the way to avoid behind hit.

All that was left was a cloud of dust.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all for your continued reviews and encouragement :) In light of the recent article with EW Online about Jorja leaving the show soon, I want everyone to know that I'm still going to continue to write fanfiction. Long live Sara Sidle:D On another note, this chapter is another one that is quite dark, so just a little heads-up. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

As soon as the car left her sight Catherine sprung into action, her internal alarms going off almost immediately. She began to run toward the parking lot but then remembered the keys to her mother's car were still in her english classroom along with her belongings. Skidding to a halt, she turned and dashed toward the front of the school, avoiding other students along the way who were just finishing up with their last classes of the day.

"Excuse me!" Catherine was shouting as she dodged kids and sneakers, textbooks and backpacks. "Class president, _move_!" That seemed to get most of the kid's attention who cleared a path for her and she dashed down the hallway to the correct classroom.

As soon as she was inside she looked around frantically for her backpack. She felt like this was a matter of life and death-- and it was. When Sara's father had come into the principal's office he looked fairly put-together, but Catherine could smell the alcohol on his breath from a mile away. Sara's father, who already had a horribly short fuse combined with alcohol was a very dangerous combination. She couldn't bear to leave time for her mind to wander about what he would do to her when he got her home away from bystanders.

Spotting her backpack in the corner Catherine reached inside, throwing out objects as she went. When she found the keys to her mother's car she turned and ran out without a word to the english professor who was still sitting at her desk.

"Out of the way!" Catherine continued to shout as she dashed toward the front of the school, "Move! This is an emergency!" She doubted any of the kids believed her or knew of the severity of the situation, but they seemed to move anyways which she was very grateful for. As soon as she had made it through the maze of kids she ran into the parking lot and made it to her car in record time.

Catherine thought the fastest part of her rescue expedition was going to be driving to Sara's house. She failed to remember that it was rush hour at the high school, cars going this way and that, intersections packed beyond recognition, streets blocked with cars trying to make illegal u-turns and parents waiting at the side of the road for their kids. Fifteen minutes later when she found herself still in the same line of cars Catherine had had enough. "That's it," she growled. Flipping her turn signal she grasped the steering wheel and swerved out of her lane, flipping the car around into the opposite lane to take another route to Sara's home. It was against the law; it was _beyond_ against the law, it was reckless and dangerous, but she didn't care right now. Only one thing mattered, and that was Sara's safety.

Thirty minutes after leaving the school Catherine was parked across the street in front of Sara's house. The building left much to be desired; the plants out front were dead and rotted. The grass desperately needed to be trimmed but was yellow and dead as well. The paint was decades old and was starting to chip away, and one of the windows in the front of the house was broken and fixed with a simple board nailed in front of it. To be honest Catherine thought it looked more like a haunted house than anything else. Sara's parents didn't have any money to keep it up, and they didn't seem to care either way.

After parking the car and getting out, Catherine took a deep breath simply to settle her nerves. She didn't exactly know what she was going to do or how, but she had a feeling something bad was about to happen. The gash on Sara's face, from what she had been able to see, had to have been at least four inches long and looked fairly deep, all out of her father's rage. He was unpredictable, and Catherine knew from what Sara had told her he had no restraints.

She jogged across the street and slowly headed up the cracked sidewalk toward the front door. Her mind was screaming at her to hurry up, but her legs suddenly felt like weights and she could've sworn her shoes were now cement blocks. Her survival instinct told her to leave, but her heart told her to stay. In the end, the latter won.

As soon as she heard a loud crash come from inside the house, Catherine jogged up the creeky wooden stairs to the front door and knocked (more like pounded) on the door frantically. "Sara?" she called out. "Sara, it's me! Open the door!"

She got no answer, and just as Catherine was ready to throw a brick through the remaining glass on one of the windows the door opened, but it wasn't Sara who opened the door. It was her mother. At least... Catherine_ thought _it was her mother. It was hard to tell for sure. The woman who answered the door looked like the walking dead; her brown hair was turning various shades of gray, it almost appeared to be a wig. Her brown eyes appeared sunken and hollow, dark circles surrounding her pupils. But the uncanny resemblance to Sara told Catherine this was indeed her mother standing in front of her.

"Are you selling something, dear?" Laura asked, and this shocked Catherine. Despite her raggedy appearance and raspy voice, she was quite polite.

"Uh... no, actually, I'm here to see Sara," Catherine told her, clearing her throat. "I'm Catherine, I'm a friend from school."

"Oh, well isn't that nice," Laura replied. "I didn't know little Sara had friends. She's always hiding out in her room, you know. She turned seven last September, she sure is an early bloomer."

"...Miss Sidle?" Catherine asked, confused. "What year is it?"

"Well '78 of course, honey," Laura answered. What was shocking was that she sounded so sure of herself.

Catherine decided not to push the issue. She was either high or beyond wasted, because the Laura Sidle Sara had told her of-- the _real_ Laura Sidle-- was never this kind or understanding. The woman standing right in front of Catherine was the poster child for anti-drug use. "Is Sara here?" she asked. "I really need to talk to her."

"I think she's with her father right now," Laura told her, "He sure does like to spend time with his daughter!" Just as she closed her mouth there came a scream.

"STOP IT!" It was unmistakably Sara's voice.

"Go check on her!" Catherine shouted at Laura.

"Oh nothing's wrong dear, they're just playing around," Laura told her. "Would you like to come in? I just made some fresh cookies and they smell absolutely delightful."

Catherine completely ignored the fact that there was no absolutely delightful smell of fresh-baked cookies, intruding into the house past Laura who was helpless to stop her. Since Catherine had never been to Sara's house more than once, she didn't know exactly where her bedroom was. "Damn it," she hissed under her breath. She was about to make a run down the hallway when a door was thrown open in front of her and Sara stumbled out on all fours, her mouth dripping blood.

"Sara!" Catherine shouted. Sara turned and looked at her, her eyes filled with pure terror, her hands and legs shaking. She took a step toward her but her legs felt like jelly and she could've sworn she saw two of Catherine but maybe that was just her eyes playing tricks on her again you know they liked to do that sometimes especially--

"I've got you," Catherine whispered, catching her before she fell. She helped Sara to her feet, trying to grab her arms to keep her from shaking so badly, but it was to no avail. Sara was opening her mouth to try and speak but no words were coming out. "Sara, take a deep breath alright?" Catherine coached her, "I'm going to get you out of here, but you need to relax!"

"Cath..." Sara finally sputtered, "Going... hurt... belt... you..." She wasn't making any sense whatsoever.

A second later, or maybe hours, no one could be so sure as time seemed to freeze in the Sidle household at that moment, a large figure emerged from the bedroom reeking of cheap whiskey and five dollar hookers. "Sara Marie Sidle, you get your ass back in that room before I beat your ass black and blue."

Sara's eyes widened in horror as she began to shake more violently.

"No," Catherine immediately said. "She's not going back in there. She's not your punching bag anymore." She didn't know what the hell she was doing, she just knew she wasn't going to continue to let him hurt Sara.

"The hell are you?" John slurred, staring at Catherine in resentment and faint confusion. "Get your ass off my property or else."

"N-No, Daddy it wasn't her fault," Sara finally spoke again, pulling herself out of Catherine's embrace as she took a hesitant, cautious step toward her infuriated drunken father. "It wasn't her fault... please don't hurt her."

"Get out of the way, Sara," John growled, unfastening his belt buckle and pulling it off. He grasped the ratty leather between his hands, his knuckles turning white as he glared at Catherine. "This is your fault. This is your fault she's going to get hurt."

"DADDY, NO!"

John had brought his arm back to strike, his fist clenching his belt tightly. As he had brought his arm down Catherine found herself frozen like a statue. Her feet, that before she had been so sure had turned to cement blocks, were now deep in quick sand. She just had enough time to close her eyes and cover her head with her arms before it came down.

She became confused at the absence of pain but the sound of ripping flesh. Opening her eyes she found Sara standing in front of her, fighting back a wave of fresh tears that were threatening to fall. After a few moments a drop of blood fell onto the carpet.

"S-Sara..." Catherine whispered. "...Sara... _Sara_!" it seemed as though it was the only thing she could say.

"Damn it," John growled. "You can never do _anything_ right, Sara! But I guess we should've known after your mother had you, you were always good for nothing."

"C-Catherine," Sara finally spoke, staring at her with tear-stained eyes. She was fighting back the urge to run away and never look back and the urge to cry from the pain her body was currently enduring. "Go... please..."

"No, Sara," Catherine shook her head, her tears quickly turning into anger at her father. "I'm not leaving without you!"

"Wait a minute," John hissed. "I see what's going on here." Without warning he struck Sara's back with the belt again and she cried out in pain. "You little _whore_! You little _slut_! I should've known why you were suddenly wanting to spend so much time with this little--"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT CATHERINE!" Sara screamed, turning around to face him in defiance.

"You bitch," John advanced on her, "How_ dare _you..."

Catherine took that opportunity to grab Sara's arm and bolt for the door which was currently unblocked. Laura was in the kitchen, basking in the sweet aroma of invisible fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. As soon as she was outside Catherine shoved Sara toward the passenger's side door of her waiting car across the street, digging into her pocket for her keys. "Get in!" she shouted. They got in the car and drove off in record time, John Sidle standing in his front yard shouting after them.

The second they tore out of the neighborhood Sara broke down in sobs, her head held in her arms. She was bloody, her clothes were torn, her cheeks were tear-stained and she was in excruciating pain, mentally and physically. Her life had fallen apart once again in the past 24 hours for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Sara, hold on," Catherine whispered, speeding through every intersection she crossed. "I'm going to get you some help."

Sara looked over at Catherine, her eyes red and puffy, her split lip already beginning to swell and the long gash on her face covered with dried and crusted-over blood. "Cath," she whispered. "I'm not going back there again!"

"I know Sara," Catherine told her, desperately wanting to take her into an embrace but unable to do so at the speed she was travelling down the roads at. "I'm going to take you to my place, and we'll go from there, okay?" Catherine knew there was no way Sara would agree to go to the hospital, but her mother had taken basic classes in first-aid to her relief. "I promise, Sara... you won't have to go back to that place ever again."

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Again guys, I apologize for the lack of updates. A lot has been going on, and my muse has been suffering as of late :) But here's a new chapter, hope you guys enjoy it and thank you for all your continued reviews and encouragement!**

"Okay Sara, you're doing good honey. I'm almost done."

Catherine had been watching her mother apply a healthy dose of rubbing alcohol to several cuts and scrapes along Sara's face after helping her take a warm bath. The larger cut on the side of her face had been dressed with a large white gauze and the other minor cuts had been dressed with small band-aids. Catherine was amazed at how compliant Sara was being; she hadn't protested to her care even once, which was unusual considering that it _was_ Sara. But right now Catherine doubted Sara felt like she was in any state whatsoever to argue.

"Okay, all done," Lilly announced, snipping off the rest of the bandage she was using with a small pair of surgical scissors. "Catherine, go find her some warmer clothes."

"Sure," Catherine nodded. She threw a glance Sara's way before leaving and couldn't help but frown; she hadn't really said a word since they had come back to her house albeit her polite replies and thank yous to Lilly for everything she was doing for her. With a sigh she turned and headed down the hallway to her bedroom and rummaged around her closet and drawers looking for something warm enough for Sara to sleep in. She finally settled on a pair of sweatpants (ratty, but comfortable and warm), and a long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Do you think these will be warm enough, Sara?" Catherine asked, handing her the clothes as she reappeared in the living room.

Sara simply nodded, keeping her eyes averted to the carpet, the coffee table, a speck of dust floating through the air, anything but Catherine or Lilly. "Thanks." It wasn't everyday she got clothes that actually had no holes in them!

"Honey why don't I make you something to eat?" Lilly asked her, trying to move so that Sara would look at her, but each time Sara simply looked away again. "You really should get some more meat on your bones."

When Sara didn't reply, Catherine spoke up, "Thanks, Mom. That sounds great." With a nod Lilly turned and walked off.

After a few moments of awkward silence Catherine found that for once in her life she could not read Sara. It was just so difficult to do; she didn't know if she was sad, tired, or simply numb. She looked a fair combination of all three. Her eyes were dark and glassy and void of emotion, her lips were looked to be curled in some sort of frown, it was hard to be sure. Her hands were resting in her lap, never moving, remaining still. There was even the absence of the usual nervous gnawing of her bottom lip.

"Hey," Catherine finally spoke up, sitting down on the couch beside her. She didn't get much of a reaction from Sara, but she wasn't about to give up. "It'll be okay... I promise."

Sara nodded stiffly, though Catherine could tell that the wheels were working in her head. She obviously thought there was no way she could promise such a thing. No one could ever promise everything would be okay for Sara Sidle.

"Look at me," Catherine finally said. This stirred a bit of a reaction from Sara, though not much. "Sar, come on, look at me." At the mention of her nickname Sara blinked, as if freed from the trance she had fallen into. Finally after a few moments Sara was making eye contact. "Don't worry about anything right now, okay? You really need to rest. We'll sort everything out in the morning."

"I don't deserve this, Cath," Sara whispered. For the first time in hours she had said something other than a "okay" or "thank you". Sara felt like the lowest animal on the totem poll. She felt like a small child. Here she was, in Catherine's home, being treated like a second child to her own mother incapable of even making her own meals. She was sitting on _Catherine's_ couch, going to be sleeping in _Catherine's_ bed, and she had nothing to give in return.

"Bullshit," Catherine scoffed.

"Catherine!" Lilly scolded from the kitchen.

"Sorry, Mother," Catherine rolled her eyes. This earned her a small smile from Sara. "Sara... I know this is hard for you, but you just have to trust me, okay? If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be doing this, so you are worthy of someone caring about you... alright?"

Sara finally answered with a small nod and a whispered, "Okay."

Sara had grown up in the sort of environment where coddling was out of the question and love and tenderness was nowhere to be found. When she was little and scraped her knee on the pavement while she was playing outside, she had to pull a chair from the kitchen up to the cabinets and reach the box of bandaids herself. She was responsible for getting herself up in the mornings to go to school, and she quite often she was also responsible for making sure the bills got in the mail before the cops starting banging down their door.

But Catherine... Catherine was perfect, and Sara couldn't understand what sort of reprieve Hell was trying to give her, but she knew she was sitting down beside her on the couch right this very moment, gazing over at her with those piercing blue eyes of hers. All she knew was that she would never give Catherine up for anything, and she was going to try her best not to screw her life up as well.

"Come on, let's get you dressed," Catherine suggested. After Lilly had helped Sara take a warm bath she had her sit down on the couch and wait until she had dressed her injuries to get dressed. It only took a few minutes, but she had to be cold in just a pair of Catherine's panties and a towel draped over her. Under any other circumstances Catherine would've found the sight of Sara sitting half-naked on the couch wearing her underwear erotic, but at this moment it was difficult to even force a smile. "Hold your arms up, Sara."

Sara complied, not much unlike a robot. Both arms went through the sleeves of the t-shirt, and in a matter of moments Catherine had Sara fully dressed, sweatpants and all. As if on cue Lilly came through the doorway with a plate of food and a large glass of what appeared to be milk.

"Here you go honey," Lilly handed the plate of food to Sara, and Sara wasn't so sure she had ever seen that much food in her entire life. To Sara it looked as though Lilly had given her a generous portion of her famous pork chops-- their dinner that night-- along with at least a few spoonfulls of mashed potatoes and about three slices of buttered bread. "Eat up!" With that she turned and walked off.

Catherine couldn't help but laugh at the look on Sara's face. "Hey, don't look so surprised. The woman lives for cooking."

"But... but there's just so _much_!" Sara exclaimed. "I can't eat all of this!"

"This is a normal dinner for me," Catherine admitted. "It's really not that much, Sara."

It really wasn't.

---

A few hours later Catherine exited her bedroom with a sigh, carrying the dirty dishes that had held Sara's dinner for that night. Carrying it into the kitchen she set them all in the sink and simply stared out the window into the front yard of her house.

The truth was, Catherine was just as scared about this whole thing as Sara was. Maybe even more. She didn't know what was going to happen to Sara, she couldn't guarantee things were going to go as she had planned. The system was a tough thing to fight, and any judge was going to want Sara to go into foster care. She just knew that she was going to work as hard as she could to make sure that didn't happen.

"Asleep?" Lilly's voice brought Catherine out of her trance. She simply nodded. "I'm not surprised, the little dear looked exhausted."

"Mom..." Catherine started, watching as her mother began to wash off the dishes sitting in the sink with the faucet. "...What are the chances... of us maybe taking Sara? Would the state fight us for that?"

"Really Catherine, it's hard to say," Lilly sighed. "The state generally wants to give kids-- and teens," she added, when Catherine was about to protest, "to nearby or living relatives."

"Sara doesn't have any relatives," Catherine told her. "Just us." They were as close to family as Sara had.

"Then that could work in our favor," Lilly nodded. "However the state is going to want a full background check on us; financial situation, housing, past employments..."

At this Catherine let out a groan. "Don't tell me..."

"I don't exactly think my history of being a showgirl would work in our favor," Lilly confirmed Catherine's fears.

"Yeah, or the fact that you banged the top-grossing casino mogul in Vegas," Catherine muttered. Lilly shot her a look. "Sorry," she sighed. "I guess I'm just tired. I'm going to go check on Sara, okay?"

Catherine turned and headed down the hallway. She stopped when she reached her bedroom, standing just inside her doorway.

Just watching Sara sleep, she blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes before they could fall.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you guys all so much for your reviews and patience with me. Just a little warning about this chapter-- it's very dark, probably the darkest so far (despite the beginning ;)) and will probably continue to be so throughout the next few chapters. I hope you guys enjoy it despite that, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!**

Well this wasn't supposed to happen at all. If you asked her, Catherine would say she had absolutely no clue how she had come to be underneath her injured girlfriend's body in quite the revealing state of undress. It certainly wasn't _her_ fault. No, it was Sara's fault for being so damn sexy all the time. With her stubborn bad-ass attitude and that sexy grunt of hers, it took everything in Catherine not to jump her at any given moment at any given time.

She had come into the bedroom to check on Sara and change her bandages before they got too itchy-- if she didn't do it now, Sara would have a pen cap stuck in one of the them trying to scratch soon. She came into change the bandages, nothing more, nothing less. She never expected it to turn into sex, especially with her mother home and just in the living room watching her favorite soap opera. But that just made it feel naughty and forbidden and dangerous and all the more appetizing.

Sara had made the first move, she would like to have noted for the record. Catherine had been the one trying to be good and make her go back to sleep. She had told her that it wasn't time for this and that she needed to get some more rest before they even considered doing that again. But damn it once Sara had began teasing her already taut nipples with her hands she found herself moaning her encouragement instead of trying to convince her to go back to sleep.

In a few swift movements Sara had skillfully removed Catherine's tank top from her body, leaving her top half gloriously bare to her eyes. Since Catherine was still wearing her pajamas, her bra had been neglected and Sara practically let out a growl in pleasant surprise. Catherine vaguely wondered if Sara had lied to her about being a virgin when they first met because of the fine skills she was exhbiting, but didn't dwell on it long as Sara continued her ministrations, each more torturous than the last.

"Ohh Sar-Bear just like that," Catherine continued to moan her encouragement as Sara moved her mouth across her neck, seeking unlicked bits of skin to explore.

"You know that's not particularly a turn-on for me," Sara mumbled back in response, tucking her head underneath Catherine's neck as she tried to move in for a better angle.

"It is for me," Catherine panted back. As much as she knew Sara-- Sara Sidle, the school badass, the toughest girl alive-- hated her nickname "Sar-Bear" given to her by Catherine herself, she knew it was just because it embarrassed her to no end. Sara really was just a sensitive little teddy bear inside, even if she wouldn't admit it.

Once Sara's warm hands had began their slow, painful descent down Catherine's stomach she couldn't help herself anymore and let out a loud moan, one that could've been audible to even the house next door. "Shh," Sara coached her, "You're mom's in the other room... do you really think she would appreciate walking in on me on top of her sweating and grunting daughter?"

"Oh damn it, I don't care!" Catherine shot back, something she would never even think of saying under normal circumstances. "Now, Sara! Fuck me _now_!"

Sara stared at Catherine in astonishment. Never in all their time of knowing eachother had she ever heard Catherine say fuck. It sounded even sexier than she had ever imagined it could sound.

"Gladly," Sara hissed into Catherine's ear. As she was working at untying Catherine's pajama bottoms, Catherine got impatient and changed her mind. In a matter of moments Sara found herself underneath Catherine who was holding her arms down to the sides of the bed in possessiveness.

"You were taking too long," Catherine growled, simply shoving Sara's arms back onto the mattress when she tried to move them. "So now I get to torture you."

"Shit," Sara groaned at the sensation of Catherine's warm tongue carressing her earlobe, "I'm really going to get it now, aren't I?"

"Oh yeah," Catherine purred. "Take off that jacket of yours, I want to see some skin."

Without protest Sara immediately sat up and started to try and take her leather jacket off with much difficulty. Catherine sat back on her hanches just long enough to allow Sara movement to remove the garment, before reassuming her position underneath her on the bed. "Now where were she?" she questioned, running a teasing hand over Sara's breasts as Sara had done to her. "I think we were just about here..." her hands were resting on the waistband of her pants and Sara thought she was going to shout out every bad word she knew right then and there if Catherine didn't hurry it up.

"All in due time," Catherine whispered. She loved that she could drive Sara this crazy, Sara who was always collected and reserved. She finally decided to cut Sara a break when she saw her squirming around underneath like her like a worm and her knee came into the equation, making its way up Sara's inner thighs before making a not-so subtle thrust into Sara's heat.

Sara felt tears stinging at her eyes, and she didn't know why. She felt pain when she should've been squirming with pleasure and she didn't know why. There was a burning, stinging, jabbing almost pounding pain inside of her that was traveling throughout her entire body in excruciating waves, moving from her abdomen through her legs and up her arms to her shoulders and collarbones. Before she could stop it her tears had become a full-blown sob.

Catherine had become confused at the absence of Sara's nails raking their way down her back and the sound of her moans before she realized she was crying. "Sara? Oh my god did I hurt you?" Catherine knew she was pretty rough when they had sex, but there was a fine line between pleasure and pain and she had never crossed that line with Sara before. She didn't think she ever would.

"I--I don't know!" Sara cried. The weight from Catherine's body now felt suffocating and painful and she frantically tried to push at her chest to move her.

"Shit," Catherine cursed herself, rolling off of Sara and grabbing her shirt. Slipping it back on over her head, she sat beside her on the bed instead. "Damn it! I _knew_ this was a bad idea!" Then looking up at her closed bedroom door, she shouted, "Mom! Mom, we have an emergency!"

She then turned her attention back to Sara who was laying curled up in the fetal position in the middle of the bed, her body shaking with her tears. "Sara?" she asked, internally continuing to berate herself. "Sara, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to..." She was angry at herself for hurting Sara, but she didn't understand exactly how she had done it... usually Sara was panting and moaning for more. She had done that to Sara so many times she lost count.

"Catherine?" Lilly came running into the room in record time, "What's wrong?"

"It's Sara," Catherine explained, "She's... I... she's hurt, and we don't know why!"

Lilly raced toward the bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside table so she could get a better look at Sara. "Sweetheart what's wrong?"

"It... it _hurts_!" Sara cried, as if that explained it all. "It hurts so _much_! Why does it hurt so much?"

"Where are you hurt, honey?" Lilly asked. "Can I see where you're hurt?"

Catherine watched her mother and Sara's exchange with tears forming in her eyes. Sara acted so tough, but now she looked like a small child with a bad stomach ache. Glancing down at Sara's body Catherine's heart instantly dropped into her gut. "M-Mom..." she stuttered, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth in shock.

"What is it, Catherine?" Lilly asked, momentarily stopping her pleads for Sara to let her see where she was hurt. "What's wrong?"

"...Blood..." Catherine whispered. "There's... there's _blood_!"

"Where?" Lilly sharply asked, getting into a standing position to move around to Catherine's side of the bed. That was when she saw it, too. A pool of blood dripping onto the bed bleeding through the dark material of the jeans Sara was wearing that day, never slowing, only seeming to flow heavier with each passing second. "Sara, honey, I need you to take your pants off right now," Lilly briskly instructed Sara, her voice hoarse.

"Hurts," Sara replied in a mere whisper, her voice wavering on more tears. "Can't..."

"That's okay sweetheart, let me do it," Lilly assured her. Sitting down in Catherine's place on the bed, Lilly carefully removed Sara's pants from her body. She saw what she was fearing she would see and gasped.

"Mom? Mom, what's--" And then Catherine saw the angry bruises around Sara's bloody thighs and calves and her eyes widened in horror. "Oh my g--... Sara did he touch you?!"

Sara didn't reply. She couldn't. She was slipping in and out of consciousness and it was hard to even blink in her state let alone reply.

"Catherine, call 9-1-1!" Lilly instantly shouted.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading the story and your wonderful feedback. Your great reviews have really put a smile on my face. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying Problem Girl! In addition I apologize for not updating sooner, what with the holidays I got maybe just a wee bit distracted :D I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter!**

"B-But Mom, Sara said--"

"_Now_!" Lilly shouted. She wasn't going to leave room for argument when there was a teenager lying on her daughter's bed bleeding and barely conscious.

Catherine ran into the living room and picked up the phone, dialing in 9-1-1 with shaky hands. She anxiously shifted from foot to foot as she waited for the operator to pick up. Every second it took for the operator to answer the call was another second Sara's life was in danger.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"We need an ambulance!" Catherine frantically told the woman on the other line, "We're over on West Broadway, number 177. Please, you have to hurry, my girlfriend is bleeding!"

"The ambulance is on their way. Do you know if she's conscious?"

"No I don't _fucking_ know if she's conscious!" Catherine practically shouted at the woman, almost hysterical. "She's bleeding all over the place and she's got bruises around her legs! Just hurry up!" Without saying another word Catherine slammed the phone back down on the receiver and bolted back down the hallway toward her bedroom, rushing back over to Sara's bedside. "Sara? Sara baby are you awake?"

Lilly and Catherine both watched Sara for any signs of life, any signs of movement, both forgetting to breathe for a minute until she managed to open her eyes just a little. "...Cat..."

Catherine choked back the sob rising in her throat, trying to smile for Sara's sake. She had seen Sara injured before, but this was just too much for her to handle. "Yeah Sar, it's me. You're going to be okay, I promise, the ambulance is on their way. Can you just stay awake?"

"Cath..." Sara whispered, fighting back the shiver that was threatening to make her body tremble and the tears that were forming in her eyes, "I'm so sorry..."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Catherine firmly told her, wrapping a layer of blankets around her body and trying to ignore the puddle of blood that was still steadily flowing around the middle of the mattress. Sara looked pale as a ghost. "Did you hear me? You didn't do anything wrong, Sara..."

"I'm scared, Cath," Sara told her, her voice on the verge of breaking. Here she was, Sara Sidle admitting she was scared for perhaps the first time in her life. "I'm so cold..."

"I know, Sara," Catherine whispered, "But you're going to be just fine, and I know you're scared, but, everything's going to be just fine," Catherine informed her, trying to put on her fake brave facade. Sara didn't need to know just how terrified she was. "When this is over, you're going to come back home with us, and I'll wait on you hand and foot. Would you like that, Sar-Bear?"

"Don't call me that," Sara tried to smirk through her tears as she fought to stay conscious. "You're embarrassing me..."

Catherine tried to laugh as best she could, wiping at her eyes. "It's you and me forever, babe. Got that? So don't you even _think_ of going anywhere." When Sara didn't reply, she tried again, "Sara? Did you hear me? You stay with me, alright?" Her eyes widened when Sara's began to droop, "N-No, Sara, you have to keep your eyes open for me right now. You can't sleep just yet." But Sara didn't respond. "_Sara_!" she fiercely told her, trying to shake her awake, "Sara, answer me! Damn it, don't _do_ this to me!"

"The paramedics are here, I'm going to go let them in," Lilly told Catherine, dashing out of the room to get the front door.

"Please, Sara," Catherine whispered, not even hearing her mother, "We're supposed to die together, remember? You can't leave me just yet..." she told her unconscious form, wiping away the sweat that had began to accumulate on her forehead above her brow. "Please..."

"She's in there!" came Lilly's voice from the hallway as she directed the EMTs to Catherine's bedroom. "I think she's unconscious!"

---

The ride to the hospital was complete chaos. Catherine insisted to her mother that she ride with Sara in the ambulance to the hospital despite her protests and after that everything had just become a blur of flashing red lights and IV drips and beeping sounds and the voices of the EMTs. She couldn't hear or understand most of what was being said, so she simply sat at Sara's side with her hand in hers.

"I need O2, about three liters," one of the EMTs ordered as they placed an oxygen mask over Sara's face.

"BP low, multiple abrasions and contusions--"

"Large amount of blood has accumulated around her pelvic region, doesn't seem to be clotting--"

"I was never very good at medical terminology, was I?" Catherine quietly asked the sleeping Sara, wiping at the tears in her eyes before they could fall. "I guess I should've borrowed that textbook from you when you got it from the library..." Her only reply was the small shallow breaths Sara was taking and the sounds of the machines and the EMTs. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise..."

In a matter of a few minutes the ambulance had arrived at the hospital and before Catherine could even comprehend what was happening the EMTs had pulled Sara's stretcher out of the ambulance and were rushing her inside to the ER. She tried to follow them through the double doors but Lilly stopped her, grabbing her around the waist before she could go.

"Mom what are you _doing_?" Catherine asked in outrage, trying to kick against her mother's strong grip. But despite her best efforts, she was still in shock and was losing strength altogether. "I need to be there with her!"

"Catherine, you can't go back there with her," Lilly told her, continuing to hold her daughter back from the doors. "Let them take her now. They'll take care of her."

"You don't _understand_!" Catherine shouted, still kicking and fighting and anything else she could think of to make her mother let go of her, "I _have_ to be back there with her! I can't leave her alone!"

"Catherine, she's not going to be alone, sweetheart," Lilly tried to tell her, "The doctors are working on her right now."

"But I have to protect her!" Catherine insisted, "I wasn't there when she needed me, and now--" Her voice began to break under the pressure of keeping her emotions under control, "And... and now..." Turning around she threw herself into her mother's arms and began to sob. "If only I had been there with her, she wouldn't... she _wouldn't_ be..."

"Shh," Lilly whispered, gently stoking her daughter's back with her hand, "Shh... it's okay..."

"I could've helped her," Catherine whispered against Lilly's chest, "Why didn't she say something?"

"I don't know, Catherine," Lilly whispered, "I just don't know..." After a few moments of whispered sweet nothings into Catherine's ear Lilly spoke up. "How about we go into the waiting room?" she asked. "It's getting cold out here, and we can't be of any help to Sara from out here."

Catherine wiped her tears away with her shirt sleeve, shooting her mother a small appreciative smile. "Okay."

---

Three hours of sitting as patiently as she could in the waiting room had driven Catherine nuts. They at least expected an update soon but no one had come out to give them any details yet. Just the fact that they were having to wait as long for news was worrying Catherine even more about Sara. Three hours with no news had to mean it was bad... very bad.

But Catherine knew what happened. There was just that little sliver of hope left that was poking at the back of her mind telling her that maybe it was just a bad dream, or... maybe Sara had just started her period early and was having a bad case of cramps. Sara never did handle cramps very well, tough as she was. She used to drink just enough of the whiskey in her house to take the pain away until Catherine scolded her and told her not to.

_"Some girlfriend you are," she grumbled. "It hurts like a bitch."_

_"Oh stop it," Catherine rolled her eyes as she set the whiskey bottle back in its place. "What is this, 1860? We have aspirin for these things now, you don't have to be sneaking whiskey behind my back for "medicinal" puposes."_

_"Roger that, Doctor Willows."_

Catherine laughed before she could stop herself. Many of the other people sitting in the waiting room, some cradling broken arms, some reading the old magazines lying around turned and stared at her like she was crazy and it instantly shut her up.

"Something funny?" Lilly asked with a small smile.

Catherine cleared her throat, shaking her head. "No, nothing. I'm just tired." And then after the awkwardness had subsided, "Where the hell are the doctors? Why aren't they giving us any news?"

"I don't know," Lilly told her. "I haven't seen anyone since they took Sara back there. I'm sure they'll give us any news when they know something though."

"Yeah," Catherine sighed in defeat, staring down at the white linoleum floor. _They better or I'll go back there myself for answers._

"So..." Lilly started, interrupting Catherine from her thoughts of vengeance on the doctors. "You still haven't told me what happened," she said. "What were you two doing in your room anyways?"

"Uh..." Catherine hesitated. She had been hoping her mother had forgotten that little detail. Even if she was her mother, she most certainly did _not _feel comfortable disclosing the details of her love life. "We were just, uh..." _Shit, what do I say? Studying? Damn it, that kind of sounds like a kinky sort of form of sex._ "Studying..." _Oh hell..._

Lilly shot her a knowing, almost cocky smile. "You don't have to go into the details of your... _studying_. I get what you're trying to say."

Catherine let out a sigh of relief. As embarrassing as it was at least she didn't actually have to say the words.

"I know what it's like," Lilly mused. "Someone comes along when you need them most and asks nothing in return... only that you love them as much as they love you. I remember when your father and I first met at the opening of the Rampart, and god was he a sight for sore eyes."

Catherine tried not to curl her lip in distaste. "No offense Mom, but... I really don't need the details of how you and dad came to bring me into this world."

Lilly chuckled. "I suppose not. But one day you're going to be just like we were, happy, committed to eachother..."

"...Mom..." Catherine started. "About that... I... wouldn't want to do something that you disapprove of, but... I love her. Sara's so... different, a lot different than any of my boyfriends I've had in the past. She's funny, and sweet, and tough as nails... she always knows what to say, and she's always there for me." She smiled at the long list of Sara's traits. "She gets the best marks in the school despite her delinquency which is sexy as hell, and those _boobs_--" Catherine forgot who she was talking to and quickly cleared her throat and set her hands back down at her side. "What I'm trying to say, is that she just..."

"Swept you off your feet," Lilly finished for her.

"...Yeah," Catherine shot her a small smile. "Exactly."

"Catherine, let me tell you something," Lilly said, turning so that she was facingher daughter. "I could care less who it is that you fall in love with so long as they treat you right and love you back. Now whether that turns out to be a man or a--"

"It's Sara," Catherine interrupted her. "I'm in love with Sara."

"Well Sara fits that bill," Lilly told her. "She's been nothing but polite with me, and you both seem quite fond of eachother. I've grown to like her more, she's almost like a second daughter to me now."

"Really?" Catherine asked, a smile prickling at the corners of her mouth. "So... you're okay with it?"

"Far as I can see, there's nothing wrong with two people being in love," Lilly smiled. "Just don't forget to call me first when you two get engaged."

Catherine leapt across the bench they had been sitting on and squeezed her mother in a tight hug, trying not to cause too much of a scene but ecstatic at the same time. "Thank you, Mom," she managed to tell her.

"Don't thank me, honey," Lilly replied, shooting her daughter a smile as big as hers. "We should be thanking Sara."

"That's true," Catherine told her. "Speaking of which, it's been... what, three and a half hours now? And they_ still _haven't come out with any updates?"

"You could go ask the receptionist if the doctor has come by," Lilly suggested. "She'd know more than we do."

"Right," Catherine nodded, getting to her feet. "I'll be right back." Just as she was turning to walk over to the receptionist's desk the door leading to the emergency room opened and a man, presumably a doctor walked out into the waiting room donning green scrubs and holding a clipboard in his hands.

"Sara Sidle?" he asked, looking around the room.

"Here," Catherine spoke up, "We came with her."

"Lilly Willows," Lilly spoke up, getting to her feet to greet the doctor. "This is my daughter Catherine."

"Oh, good," the man replied. "I'm Dr. Woods, I worked on Sara."

"How is she?" Catherine chimed in. "We've been sitting in here for almost four hours now and we haven't got any updates."

"I'm sorry about that, but we've been awfully busy tonight," Dr. Woods replied, fixing his glasses on his nose. "But Sara is currently stable. She should be fine."

"Oh thank god," Lilly sighed, patting Catherine's shoulder. "Do you know what caused the bleeding?"

Dr. Woods looked around the waiting room at the various people sitting and staring at the three and then back at the anxious faces of Catherine and Lilly. "Let's go into my office," he suggested. "We can have more privacy there." He led them through the door leading into the hallway of the emergency room and as they passed each door Catherine looked for any signs of Sara but did not see her.

"Where's Sara?" Catherine asked as they walked into the doctor's office.

"She's been moved downstairs," Dr. Woods told her, closing the door as he headed back over to his desk. "She was stable, so we moved her so she could have her own room."

"Good," Catherine nodded, sitting down across from him. Lilly sat in the chair beside her. "So what's going on? What happened?"

"When Sara was brought in, she was a mess," Dr. Woods told them both. "She was bleeding from her pelvic region and it wasn't showing any signs of stopping. We brought in a SART nurse, standard procedure for these sorts of incidents. When we finally got the bleeding to stop, we had the SART nurse perform an SAE kit."

"W-Wait a minute, what's that?" Catherine asked, swallowing her nerves.

"It's a sexual assault exam kit," Dr. Woods replied. Lilly's face grew impossibly paler. "The nurse said she found signs of recent severe trauma, indicating that Sara was assaulted recently. But that wasn't all-- according to our nurse, judging by the amount and age of the scarring of the tissue, beside that of what we found tonight... Sara has been assaulted before, perhaps several times."

"What?" Lilly whispered in disbelief. "You... surely you've made some sort of mistake..."

"It's not a mistake, Mom," Catherine whispered, "He's right."

_"That looks like a nasty bruise," Catherine mused, staring at Sara's leg that was bouncing up and down on the floor as she sat at the couch doing her homework._

_"Yeah, it does, huh?" Sara asked, not looking up from her work. "Jammed the kickstand on my back and it retaliated."_

Sara didn't even _have_ a bike.

_"Ooh," Catherine winced at the dark mark on Sara's wrist as she watched her eat her sandwich. "How'd that happen? That has to hurt."_

_"Yeah, I was wrapping my wrists for the punching bag and I hit the bag at a weird angle and twisted it," Sara replied. "Hurts like hell."_

_"I bet. Sure it's not broken?"_

_"Positive."_

Sara was too familiar with a punching bag to do something that careless.

"Do you have any idea who could've done this?" Dr. Woods asked Catherine and Lilly. "There's a good chance whoever assaulted Sara the first time is the person who has been doing it all along."

"Yeah," Catherine nodded, wiping at her eyes. "Her father."

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Ugh, I'm sorry guys. School, life, life, school. Who needs it, really? ;) I want to thank you all again for your wonderful reviews and continuous encouragement and I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter :)**

"Would you like something to drink, Sara?"

"N-No thanks."

They had been sitting in the interrogation room at the police station for what felt like forever before the detective's voice broke the silence. The small room was only really big enough to occupy maybe four people at the most, and the cold metal table and set of chairs was cold and uninviting. Catherine was sitting right there by her side, but she still felt as cold and as alone as she would've if she weren't. She was anxiously playing with the bandages wrapped around her hands so she wouldn't have to look at the detective sitting across from her.

"Are you sure? We have sodas in the breakroom, or even just a cup of water?"

"N-No, I'm fine, thank you."

Catherine knew the detective was trying his hardest to coax Sara into drinking something-- no doubt he had read the files and results the hospital had sent over to them and had learned how dehydrated she was. But Catherine knew Sara well enough to know that wasn't going to work, and up to this point she hadn't been able to eat or drink much of anything without throwing it all up afterwards. She couldn't really blame her.

"Alright, then," the detective nodded, pulling his small legal pad out of the coat pocket of his dress jacket. He clicked his ball-point pen as he turned to a blank page. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions about what happened the other night, alright Sara?" She stiffly nodded. "Okay," he nodded his approval once more. "But before we start, I want you to know that you can stop at anytime, or if you need to take a break, just let me know, okay?"

When Sara didn't reply, Catherine spoke up. "Thank you, we appreciate it."

"Okay," the detective started, setting his pad down on the table and twirling his pen between his fingers. "How did you get hurt, Sara?"

Catherine glanced down at the floor in shame, knowing that she had done nothing to help Sara's current state. She had probably made her injuries worse from the festivities of their... _study session._

"I... I don't know," Sara replied in a tone almost nothing above a whisper. "I... I must've fallen or... or ran into a door or something. I'm pretty clumsy."

Catherine frowned in disappointment. That had to be the most desperate and pitiful excuse Sara had come up with yet. It was right up there with accidentally running into her mother's hot curling iron or accidentally running into her father's broken beer bottle. Yeah, she had ran into a door... that just happened to slice up her vagina.

"Sara..." Catherine started before the detective could open his mouth. She knew it was better for her to say it than to have someone who barely even knew Sara to say it. "You know as well as we do that's not what really happened. Tell him the truth, please... for me." If she said it like that, Sara didn't really have much of a choice.

"Sara?" the detective tried again. "I'm going to ask you once more, and this time I want you to tell me the truth, okay?" he asked. Sara simply nodded, gnawing her bottom lip raw. "How did you get hurt?"

The room fell silent, so quiet that if someone dropped a pin on the ground it would've sounded like a gunshot. Finally after about a minute Sara began to open her mouth to speak and glanced over at Catherine for her approval.

"It's okay, Sara," Catherine told her, trying to smile at her encouragingly. "Go ahead and tell him."

She turned so that she was facing the detective again who was waiting eagerly yet patiently.

"...Well..." Sara began, biting her lip nervously, "I'm _really_ clumsy..."

Catherine bit her tongue so that she wouldn't yell in frustration. She wasn't angry at Sara-- she knew it wasn't her fault. But all she had to do was say that it was her bastard of a father that had hurt her and he would be given what he deserved. "Detective?" Catherine asked. "Can we take a short break, please? I'd like to speak with Sara alone."

The detective nodded, putting his notepad back in his pocket. "Of course. You and Sara can come back in about twenty minutes."

"Thanks," Catherine told him, grateful. Getting to her feet, she held a hand out for Sara to help her get to her feet. "Come on Sar," she tried to smile for her sake, "Let's go get something to drink." Once she had helped Sara to her feet she wrapped a steadying arm around her waist and threw one of her arms around her shoulders to support her as they headed toward the door. The detective quickly walked over to help them with the door and held it open for them as they both walked out.

"Thank you," Sara barely whispered, staring down at Catherine's sneakers she was letting her wear. She knew what was coming from Catherine, and she wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

Catherine helped Sara walk into the breakroom and helped her sit down on the couch, grabbing a paper cup from the dispenser and pouring her some water. "Here, drink this," Catherine offered, holding the cup out to Sara.

Sara took the water, planning on dumping it into the flower pot of the nearest plant when Catherine wasn't looking, but took a small sip just to appease Catherine.

"Okay," Catherine sighed, sitting down next to her. "I'm guessing you know what I'm about to say, you look like you're on Death Row." Sara simply nodded. "Then... I don't even have to say it. But why, Sara? Why won't you just tell them what happened?"

The truth was, Sara didn't know. She was scared, but Catherine and the other officers had assured her time and time again that as soon as she said the word they'd go pick up the person who hurt her and they would never be given the chance to do so ever again. Catherine had told them it was her father, but without Sara actually saying it to them, or without DNA comparison from her father they had no way of knowing.

"I... I don't know," Sara admitted. "I... I think I'm scared or something...?"

Catherine simply nodded in understanding, trying not to sigh. "I know you are, Sara... but I'm going to be in there with you the entire time. I won't leave even if they tell me to, okay? I promise."

Sara smiled just a little at that. "So if a chainsaw-wielding maniac comes in demanding that you leave..."

"Not a chance in hell," Catherine grinned. "He would never get the chance to hold that chainsaw ever again."

Sara couldn't help but laugh, wiping at the tears in her eyes before they could fall. "It's... it's just..." She fought for the right words. "It's just... even if he did all of that... even... even if he was a..."

"A self-centered, violent, drunk son of a bitch?" Catherine offered.

Sara nodded, but she was quite serious. "Yeah... even _if_ he was... he's... he's still my dad," she whispered, staring at Catherine with tear-stained eyes. Even if he had beat her into a corner with his old ratty leather belt time and time again, he was still her dad that had taken her down to Santa Cruz when she was a little girl. Even if he had called her a bitch and a slut and a good-for-nothing little whore, he was still the person who had held her when she was a baby and had mumbled over and over again how many times he loved her. Even if he had forced her to her knees or shoved her on her back on more than one occasion, he was still that same person.

"I know, Sara," Catherine told her, "And believe me, I understand... but Sara, he hurt you pretty bad. You can barely walk on your own. If he really cared about you... if he really, truly cared about you, he would never have hurt you in the first place. Parents are supposed to protect and love their children... not use them for self-gratification."

Sara choked on the sob that was rising in her throat, nodding her head to indicate that she understood. "I know that... I do, I really do..."

"Don't let him get away with this, Sara," Catherine told her, leaning closer so that she could wipe the tears from her face that had began to fall. "You don't owe him anything... don't let him continue to do this to you. You have the power to make him stop."

It took a few moments, but Sara finally nodded her head in agreement, wiping the tears from her eyes to compose herself. "Okay."

-----

The next morning Catherine drove Sara to the police station and told them that she was ready to tell them what happened. Despite Catherine making her eat breakfast to regain her energy, and despite letting her know that she was going to be in the room with her the entire time, Sara still felt sick and was beginning to think that her breakfast was going to be making a reappearance in the near future.

"Make yourselves comfortable," the detective from the day before instructed them both, sitting down across from them at the cold metal table.

Between Catherine's continuous whispers of "It's okay" and "You're doing really well, Sara" and the suffocating atmosphere that was the police station interrogation room, Sara felt anything but comfortable.

"Alright Sara, let's just pick up from where we left off yesterday afternoon, okay?" he asked, twirling his pen between his hands. Sara simply nodded. "Remember, same as yesterday, if you need to stop early or take a break for whatever reason, just let me--"

"No, I'm ready," Sara shook her head. If there was one thing she did not want to do again it was come back to this godforsaken place and tell this story all over again. It was better to get it over with.

"Okay," the detective nodded, removing his notepad from his pocket again. "We're tape-recording this conversation, is that alright with you?"

Sara refrained from saying what she was thinking which was "Do I really have a choice?" and instead just nodded to say that it was. Catherine patted her shoulder to let her know she was there.

"Alright," the detective started, "So how did you get hurt, Sara?"

Sara shot Catherine a look out of the corner of her eye and Catherine returned it before she turned her attention back to the detective. "...Someone... someone..._ assaulted _me." She hated the actual term.

"Who assaulted you, Sara?" the detective asked, writing that down on his notepad.

Sara was about to make up some ridiculous false name like Dr. Bob Pepper and his accomplice Sherri Coke, but she remembered what Catherine had told her the day before and decided against it. "...My... my dad did, Sir."

The detective wrote that down too, nodding his head. "Has he done this before, as in more than once?"

"What does the damn medical file say?" Sara shot back, the nausea beginning to make her head spin.

"Hey, Sara, it's okay," Catherine told her, gently rubbing up and down her back with her hand. "It's okay... just take a deep breath. They're trying to help you, remember?"

Sara took a deep breath and let it out shakily, slowly nodding her head. "...I'm sorry," she apologized. "But... yeah, it's been more than once."

"How long has the abuse been going on?" he asked.

"I guess it's... it's been about sixteen years now," Sara replied.

The detective's eyes widened in astonishment and Catherine quickly cleared her throat. "I think he means the other abuse, Sara..."

"...Oh, right..." Damn. "It's been about a year now I guess. Or a few months. I'm not sure."

The detective looked doubtful. "Sara... a year and a few months... there's a big difference there... can you try to remember which one it was? We need specific details to make sure he never does this again."

Sara felt the room spinning again but she was grounded by the feeling of Catherine squeezing her hand in hers. "It's been about a year, then," she told him. "My fa--" she caught herself. He wasn't her father anymore. He was a monster. "That son of a bitch has been abusing me for a year."

And this time, she did not stutter.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Man I'm so sorry for not updating guys. Thank you all so much for still reading and your continued wonderful reviews. I promise I will try and update sooner! Homework is a killer. But I hope you will all forgive me with this longer chapter :) This chapter goes into more detail on how Catherine and Sara met and how their relationship came to be (and yes, it will be continued in next chapter too ;)). I hope you guys enjoy it!**

"How's she doing?"

Lilly's voice snapped Catherine out of her sleep-deprived, emotional, tear-stained reverie as she stood in the doorway of her daughter's bedroom. They had brought Sara home after a quick check-up at the hospital that day to make sure she was doing okay and she had done nothing but sleep for the entire day. The doctors had recommended it-- she was suffering from severe exhaustion, they had said. So there Catherine had sit with Sara, all day long. She hadn't left her bedside even to go to the bathroom, and it had remained that way ever since Sara had come to their house in the first place.

"Surviving," Catherine mumbled in response, throwing a hand over her mouth to try and stifle her own yawn. "Still sleeping," she then clarified. "She has yet to really wake up. She still has a fever, so I guess it's good that she's getting some rest."

Lilly nodded in agreement, before turning her attention to her own flesh and blood. "Cath, you should really get some sleep. If she wakes up I'm sure you'll be the first to know."

"I can't," Catherine shook her head in disagreement, stifling another yawn. "What if I fall asleep and she wakes up and needs me and she can't wake me up? Or what if something happens during the night and I'm asleep? I can't take that risk. She was there for me when I needed her, so now I need to be here for her when she needs me."

Lilly relented, realizing this was one battle she wasn't going to be winning anytime soon. "I'll put a fresh pot of coffee on, then," she told her with a small smile. "Something tells me you're going to need it."

"Thanks, Mom," Catherine shot her a tired yet appreciative smile. After Lilly turned and left down the hallway, Catherine let out a sigh and placed a tentative hand on Sara's forehead. She frowned and quickly withdrew her hand as if she had been burned. Grabbing a washrag she had kept with her in the bedroom, she walked to the bathroom and rinsed it in some cold water before returning to Sara's bedside and starting to dab up the sweat along her forehead.

"I know it's cold, Sar," Catherine whispered to her when she saw her begin to stir in protest. "But you've got a fever and it's not going away." When she was finished she set the rag back on her nightstand and sat back down beside Sara, fighting to stay awake.

The past few days had been chaos-- when Sara finally told the detectives at the police department what had happened, she was bombarded with question after question about very sensitive details. She had broken down in tears twice, and then when they finally told her she could go she was so exhausted she could barely stand on her own. They had told them that they would be in touch and they hadn't heard much since other than the hospital calling to check up on Sara.

The first night, Catherine woke up to Sara whispering things in her sleep. She had calmed her down enough to get her to be able to sleep somewhat soundly. The second night, Sara woke up in a panic when she heard Lilly's footsteps outside the bedroom door as she was walking down the hallway to the kitchen to get a glass of water. It took forty-five minutes to get her to stop hyperventilating. The third night, Sara scratched herself in an effort to ward off an invisible assailant from her dream and had required a bandage job.

So Catherine knew, despite how much Sara had been laying in bed and how it may have _appeared_ that she was sleeping soundly, she wasn't really sleeping at all. She was reliving the past in her dreams, or to be more specific, nightmares. All Catherine could do was sit and watch Sara sleep, feeling completely helpless. She couldn't protect her from her dreams.

"Things are going to be different from now on, Sara," Catherine quietly told her, resting her head on the pillow beside Sara's. "Soon you won't have to be afraid anymore... I'll make sure of that. No one's ever going to hurt you again... I promise."

About fifteen minutes later Lilly cracked the door open and was walking into the bedroom with a steaming mug of coffee for Catherine.

She set it down on the nightstand when she saw Catherine sound asleep by Sara.

---

_One year earlier..._

"Get the hell out of my face you fucking dyke!"

"You won't _have_ a face when I'm done with you!"

Almost the entire school was gathered in the hallways to watch the smackdown. Kids were throwing paper airplanes and cheering and betting lunch money on who would win.

"What the_ hell _is going on here?" Catherine asked, shoving past kids in the crowd and showing them her class president sash. If something was going on, she needed to know so that she could break it up, especially a fight. The principal and her professor would be all over her if she couldn't break up a fight and let it escalate to the point of bloody noses and black eyes. "What, no one's going to tell me?" she barked, clearly irritated. People were simply ignoring her and continuing to cheer on whoever it was in the middle of the crowd.

"Let me_ through_!" Catherine finally shouted, pushnig past the final group of kids before she saw what the commotion was. Bobby Grant, the football star quarterback of the high school team was harrassing and taunting a girl with that stupid "dead behind the eyes" look of his and his friends were watching and cheering him on. It appeared he hadn't even noticed Catherine yet.

"What're you going to do, Sara?" Bobby sneered at the girl. They were circling around the group of kids like they were animals in the wild fighting over a piece of meat, just daring the other one to try and take a bite. "You want to be put in a fucking nuthouse for the rest of your life?"

Catherine watched the girl now identified as Sara and she could see the silent fury in her brown eyes, the way her fists were clenched so tight her knuckles were turning white. Before it could escalate further, Catherine wanted to try and end it. "Bobby, shut up and leave her alone, will you? This is an all-time low, even for you. Did she reject your invitation to go to the prom with you?"

"_That_ freaky bitch?" Bobby looked wounded and appalled that Catherine had even suggested it. "You've gotta be kidding me. The only person that would ever go to the prom with her would have to be retarded or looking for an easy screw." Catherine winced at his harsh words as she watched him slowly make his way toward Sara.. "Because that's what you're all about, isn't it Sugarplum?" he whispered, his hand moving from his side, "Maybe Daddy would take you to the prom..." his hand lightly grazed her arm.

Catherine was about to tell Bobby to knock it off, but she didn't have time to. In a matter of seconds Sara-- who was half Bobby's size and had stayed quiet and controlled during the whole ordeal-- had punched him square in the face and grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, ramming him into the nearest row of lockers with his arm locked tightly behind his waist.

"You ever touch me again you son of a bitch and I swear to God I will rip your arm square off," she hissed, her tone stinging with venom. Bobby was trying to act cool and collected despite the blood pouring out of his nose and dripping from his mouth, but everyone watched and saw that he could not remove his arm from her vice-like grip. "Maybe I should break it right now, just to make sure."

"You're a fucking psycho Sidle, and you know it," Bobby managed to ground out through gritted teeth as he struggled to get his arm free. "You're a fucking psycho, and you--"

"That's enough," Catherine finally spoke up. As impressed as she was that this girl had single-handedly reduced Bobby Grant, the school's number one strongman/heartthrob to a pile of mush, she still had a duty to maintain. "Bobby, leave her alone." Maybe he would listen to her, she thought. Under that stupid hollow skull of his he had to have some sort of brain, pea-sized or not. He had to be smart enough to know that this girl could and would very easily kick his ass.

"Just watch, Catherine," Bobby grinned at her, shooting her his winning smile. He had had a stupid crush on her for as long as she could remember. All the guys did. "I'll show you how _strong_ I am." Bobby used the arm Sara had been pinning behind his back to elbow her in the gut and she moved back, winded. He flipped around with his arm and managed to whack her in the face with enough force to send her hurling backwards into the opposite row of lockers across the hallway. She was nursing a bloody nose as he creeped toward her.

"Bobby, you stupid bastard leave her _alone_!" Catherine shouted, running inbetween the two before he could get to her. "Principal Baker is going to be back in fifteen minutes from lunch, do you think he wants to see his star quarterback player beating up on a helpless girl?"

"Principal Baker can kiss my--"

"What about your free ride to Princeton?" Catherine continued. "Would you want to jeopardize that? Would you want to have to actually do some work to earn it?" she asked him. She wasn't surprised when it only took a few moments before he shot her an icey glare and stormed off, wiping more blood away from his nose with his arm. His friends trailed behind him shortly after.

"What are you all looking at?" Catherine shouted at all the kids still gathered around the battlefield. "Show's over! Go to your classes!" With muted grumbles and mutters the crowd of kids skipping class gradually dissipated until it was just Catherine and Sara left standing in the hallway. "Are you okay?" she quietly asked her. "I wouldn't worry about him, he's an asshole. The only reason he's still here is because he makes the principal look good... but you didn't hear that from me."

Catherine didn't get a response from Sara, which was something she was not used to. Sara simply stood leaning against the row of lockers in the hallway, almost stoic. Occasionally she wiped her nose and stared at the blood covering her hands. "Do you, uh, want to go wash up?" Catherine offered. "I can--"

"I don't need you to patronize me just because you're class president," Sara finally replied. "I know who you are. You don't have to act like you're interested in me and invite me to your house for a slumber party just so you can earn another gold star from the principal."

Catherine was starting to get pissed off. Here she was trying to be nice to a girl who had no friends and was always getting into trouble, and she becomes her verbal punching bag. "Yeah, well you know what? I know who you are, too."

Sara's eyes flickered briefly in Catherine's direction.

"Yeah, that's right. So why are you always getting into trouble? I've seen you around before, and you're definitely on the principal's radar. You get the best marks in the school, I've heard. So what, is this bad-ass 'who-gives-shit' attitude some sort of act?" Catherine shot back.

"It's _not_ an act," Sara growled through gritted teeth, the fury evident in her eyes.

"So then what is it," Catherine continued, not backing down, "some sort of plea for attention? And don't say it's not because you're way too hard to miss in the halls. If you didn't want to draw attention to yourself, you wouldn't act this way."

"Shut the hell up!" Sara finally shouted, moving away from her stationary post at the lockers. "You don't know a _goddamn_ thing about me, so just run along with all your friends, kiss some more ass, and go home to be worshipped by Mommy and Daddy and get everything you want!"

Catherine stood in the middle of the hallway as she watched Sara turn and storm off toward the restrooms, at a loss for words. Never had anyone ever spoken to her like that before, and neither had she. She didn't know who this girl thought she was, but now that she had started it she wasn't going to let her just walk off without a fight.

Catherine followed suit down the hallway toward the restrooms shortly after Sara, throwing the door open to find her standing in front of the sink soaking cheap recycled paper towels under the water faucet. When she took a step into the bathroom Sara finally acknowledged her.

"You just don't give up, do you," she stated, rather than asked.

"Not after someone talks to me like that, hell no," Catherine retorted. "What is your problem?"

"What do you care?" Sara asked, washing the blood away from her knuckles, "You run out of topics to discuss at the lunch table with your friends?"

"No," Catherine told her, fighting to remain calm, "I know it's hard for you to believe, but it's the truth. I've never seen someone so angry as you before, and I want to know why you're this way."

"Do you need to know everything?" Sara asked, looking at Catherine through the mirror.

"Curiosity," Catherine replied. "It's a flaw."

Sara didn't say anything in response. Catherine just wouldn't let up, and it was driving her insane. Why did she give a damn what was wrong with her? No one else did. She was just supposed to believe that she came in to see what was wrong and make everything better? There had to be some sort of catch.

But there was something about this girl-- something about Catherine-- that was making her want to believe her.

"You're still bleeding," Catherine softly told her, taking several more steps into the bathroom to grab another paper towel and soak it in some water. Without waiting for Sara's permission she began to dab up the blood surrounding Sara's knuckles and she flinched in response. Catherine stopped, backing off.

"...I-It's not mine," Sara told her, taking the towel from her and wiping it up herself. "It's that asshole's."

Catherine bit her lip to hold in a laugh. "Bobby?" Sara simply nodded in response. "Yeah, he is an asshole. I'm not surprised you kicked his ass. What started that fight anyways?"

Sara clammed up again and grew silent, and Catherine silently cursed to herself, letting out a sigh. "Look," she started. "I'd be more than willing to continue this conversation outside of school if that would you make you feel more comfortable. If you want to, you can meet me down at the ice cream place downtown. If not, that's fine too." Silence followed until Catherine turned and walked out.

_What the hell did you just do, Cath? _Catherine thought to herself with a frown as she walked down the hallway to her next class. She had just asked the misfit of the entire school to go have ice cream with her. She was always told not to associate with people like Sara, but there was something about her that was making it hard not to. There was something about her that made her want to know more.

_She probably won't even come later. I shouldn't even bother and just go home._

To both their surprise, Sara showed up.

---

Nearly fifteen minutes of silence had passed and it was starting to make Catherine feel uncomfortable. She had already gotten a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach when she had discovered Sara had actually shown up, but it was nothing compared to the awkward silence that had engulfed them both. They hadn't actually ordered ice cream, so they had sat at a table across from each other looking at anything but each other the entire time they had been there.

"...I'm really glad you decided to come," Catherine finally said to break the silence. Sara finally turned and looked at her. "I know you probably didn't want to."

"No, but I figured if I didn't you'd come looking for me anyways," Sara wryly smiled.

"I resent that," Catherine smirked back. "You know just because I'm the class president doesn't mean I'm a--"

"Stuck-up bitch?" Sara finished for her.

"Exactly," Catherine couldn't help but laugh. And for a split second, there it was. For a split second, Sara actually offered a real smile, and Catherine wasn't so sure she had ever seen anything so beautiful in her entire life.

"Listen." Catherine blinked when she realized Sara was actually talking to her. "I think we got off on the wrong front, and I'm sorry for the things I said to you. I was... pissed off."

"Yeah, I could tell," Catherine offered a wry remark of her own. She could've sworn Sara was blushing. "But I do agree. I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to turn this into the Spanish Inquisition. I guess my curiosity just gets the better of me sometimes."

Sara simply nodded. "And my temper gets the better of me... quite a bit of the time."

"So I've noticed," Catherine replied. "But all kidding aside, are you going to tell me? What the fight was about, I mean," she clarified.

Sara stared at her for a minute, mentally slapping herself in the face for letting her get so comfortable so quickly with Catherine. Turning to look over at the old man behind the counter of the ice cream shop, she shot him a rather charming, innocent smile and said, "On second-thought, I think I will have some ice cream."

_Damn it all to hell,_ Catherine mentally cursed.

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, guys. I'm out of school now and I have some new story ideas, so I might work on those while I'm working on finishing Problem Girl as well. Thanks so much for your guys' continued patience and encouragement. Your reviews mean the world to me. This chapter continues right where the last one left off. I hope you guys enjoy it :D**

She was pretty sure Sara was purposely taking her own sweet time with that bowl of ice cream just to spite her.

No, she was almost positive.

The bowl of mint chocolate chip had arrived at the table almost fifteen minutes ago and had she had only taken about three or four bites. Catherine was no stranger to brain freeze, but this was just plain ridiculous. Either Sara really didn't like her, or she was a person who genuinely enjoyed their ice cream.

After sitting in the ice cream parlor for forty five minutes, Sara's bowl of ice cream was really more like soup now. But she still took her time with it, and Catherine figured that she must be a fantastic actress because she was acting as if she never got ice cream at all.

But Catherine didn't say anything-- she just sat politely and stayed quiet.

Finally when Sara was done with her ice cream, she went up to the counter to pay. She patted the pockets of her jacket first, and then the pockets of her torn jeans for cash. Her face fell when her search came up empty. "Oh... shit."

"No money?" the old man behind the counter asked with a thick southern drawl. Sara just shot him a small smile. "That's okay Sara, I'll let you off this time. You watch that mouth of yours though, got it?"

"Thanks," Sara sighed in obvious relief. "And will do."

Sara walked back over to their table and picked up her textbooks she had brought with her from school, glancing over at Catherine. "Well, I have to go. This was, uh..." she fought for the right word. "Nice."

As Sara was turning to leave Catherine stopped her. "Hey, Sara?"

Sara turned around at that. Catherine actually called her by her honest, God-given name. No one at school did, they called her "Sidle" (she had come to despise her last name for it) and when she was at home she was called varying degrees of "Slut" on the good days. "Yeah?"

Catherine shrugged, suddenly feeling put on the spot. Why did Sara make her feel so nervous? Was it because she knew Sara could easily kick her ass, or was it something else? "Want to go for a walk?"

Sara stared at Catherine for a long moment before her face broke out into a small smile. "Sure."

--

The park was a bountiful sight of green trees, lush grass and colorful flowers. The sky was a blue enigma and the clouds looked like pillows. The smell of Spring was in the air, alive and well, and...

Catherine had to stop stalling for time. _Now_. She had to.

She was never one for awkward silences, and awkward silences with someone you've only just met was a thousand times worse. She could tell Sara didn't really know what to say anymore than she did. And in truth, she wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to say; "We've only just met and we know absolutely nothing about each other, but do you want to be friends?" seemed to jump the gun a little.

And the silence wasn't lost on Sara either, who had spent the entire walk thus far staring down at her beat-up sneakers.

Finally Catherine decided to speak. "So... the guy at the ice cream shop. You two seemed pretty friendly."

Judging by the look Sara gave her, Catherine knew that she took what she said the wrong way.

"What, you think I'm some sort of misfit turning tricks for extra cash?" Sara asked, stopping dead in her tracks. "You think I'm so screwed up I'm seeking solace in the first available warm body I find? That I'd rather blow some old guy than face reality?"

Catherine was stunned, simply at a loss for words. Somehow she regained her ability to speak. "What-- I-I don't...y-you, I-don't..." Somewhat.

Sara practically died of laughter right then and there, tears instantly springing to her eyes. "God, I'm sorry, Catherine. That was just too easy."

Catherine's look of confusion quickly turned into one of both anger and amusement. "Hey! Now that was just cruel!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Sara tried to apologize through her giggles. "But I couldn't resist."

Catherine tried her hardest not to smile, crossing her arms over one another. "So what's the real story? He your grandpa or something?"

Sara made a sound that sounded like a scoff, her laughter disappearing. Catherine instantly missed it. "Nah, he's just an old family friend. He used to supply the ice cream and dairy for my parent's B&B before it went out of business."

Catherine nodded as they started walking again. So Sara did have parents who apparently had at one time a successful business. "You guys get a lot of traffic in there?"

"At first," Sara told her. "But then it started to die down. Eventually no one came at all and they had to close it. It was costing too much to maintain the place. It was a piece of shit, really."

Scratch that-- _unsuccessful_ business.

"So where do you guys live now?" Catherine inquired. She was hoping Sara wouldn't get suspicious as to why she was asking so many questions. She didn't really know the answer.

"Some equally shitty place on the other side of town," Sara replied. "You?"

"My mom and I are living in a house down near the bay," Catherine told her.

"Sounds nice." _Stuck-up rich folk nice_, Sara thought to herself.

As they continued walking the small talk continued until Catherine couldn't stand it anymore. She had been stalling for time until she found the courage to ask the questions she really wanted to ask Sara, but she couldn't do it anymore.

She was contemplating on how to approach the topics when Sara spoke.

"I never should've let that son of a bitch hit me," she laughed ruefully, inspecting her knuckles as she did so. Catherine could tell by their swollen appearance that Sara used them often. "I let my guard down. That was stupid of me."

"Well..." Catherine started. "Maybe you should let your guard down more often."

Sara snorted at that. "So I can get socked in the face some more? No thanks."

"So you can let people in," Catherine clarified.

Sara stared at Catherine for a moment, pondering this. She had her walls up 24/7 and through the years had even thought about installing a moat with man-eating alligators in it. The thought of "letting people in" made her cringe. The last time she had tried to let someone in she had just ended up getting hurt.

At first, she was sure that was what Catherine was trying to get her to do. Now, she wasn't quite sure of anything.

Sara let out a sigh, pacing back and forth in the middle of the dirt path. "I've tried that before, you know. You let people in just long enough for them to learn exactly how to hurt you."

"I wouldn't hurt you," Catherine replied. This made Sara stop in mid-step and glance over at her again. "I mean not intentionally... everyone does stupid things. But I would never purposely do anything to hurt you."

Sara looked at Catherine with a small smile, and for a split second she sensed that she was telling the truth. "You know, with that tone I almost believe you." She started walking again and headed over to a tree stump in the middle of the playground.

"I am telling the truth," Catherine followed her. "You just have to be willing to listen to it. Are you willing to give this a shot?"

"Give what a shot?" Sara asked, sitting down on the stump. "Risk humiliating myself?"

"No, risk gaining a friend," Catherine told her, keeping her cool. Even though they had only spent about two hours together now, Catherine was pretty sure she knew how Sara operated.

Sara just shrugged, trying to avoid the question. Part of her wanted to leap at the suggestion and squeeze Catherine in a giant hug and go to her house for cookies and milk after school every day and for them to help each other with their homework. The other part of her wanted to run for the hills and never look back. She wasn't sure if now qualified as a time to get the hell out of Dodge.

Without asking, Catherine joined Sara on the tree stump and Sara instantly scooted away. Catherine didn't move any closer, respecting her space. "So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you about what?" Sara mumbled uncomfortably. The close proximity between Catherine and herself was making her heart race and she wasn't quite sure why.

"About what started the fight between you and Bobby," Catherine replied. "You've been avoiding the question ever since I first asked you."

"Why do you want to know?" Sara asked.

"Why won't you say?" Catherine shot back.

"Because it doesn't matter," Sara told her. "It's unimportant."

"If it's unimportant, then why can't you say?"

Sara shot up from her place on the tree stump, getting frustrated. "Because it's not _important_, goddamn it!"

Catherine could sense Sara's temper was rising now. She wasn't sure if she wanted to test her or not. A part of her was curious as to what would happen if she did. "See, now you're just trying to get me angry so I'll drop it. I'm not going to drop it."

Sara looked over at Catherine, fire in her eyes. "Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I don't _want_ to tell a whiny little bitch like you everything?"

Catherine flinched slightly at Sara's harsh words, but she held strong. "Well this whiny little bitch happens to be class president. I'm going to have to tell the principal about what happened back there, one way or another."

Sara laughed bitterly. She knew she was being cruel and yet she couldn't stop herself. Her heart wanted to pound its way out of her chest and it was taking every ounce of restraint for her not to punch Catherine right in the face. "Go ahead, he already hates me. How'd you get on his good side, offer him a five dollar blow job?"

"...What did you just say to me?" Catherine hissed. She had been able to shake aside Sara's comments until now.

"I said," Sara started, holding her ground, "'How'd you get on his good side, offer him a five dollar blow job'?"

At that moment, Catherine discovered what it felt like to lose control. She went against everything she had ever been taught about self-restraint and lunged at Sara.

She tried to throw a punch but Sara was ready, having already been anticipating the blow. She blocked her punch with her left arm and spun around so that she was behind Catherine. Grabbing the arm she had punched at her with, she spun it behind her back and held her in an effective arm-lock.

"What the _hell _are you trying to do, get yourself killed?" Sara growled, holding Catherine's flailing arm behind her back.

Catherine realized then just how strong Sara was. Try as she might, she couldn't remove her arm from Sara's vice-like grip. "It sparked a response, didn't it?" she panted.

Sara easily held Catherine's arm behind her back before she felt it again-- her heart pounding. No, it was more of a fluttering. Instantly she released her hold on Catherine who immediately spun around so that she was facing her.

"...Look," Sara started, trying to take deep breaths. "I apologize for the things I said to you, but I don't ever want to see you again. I have to go now."

As she was walking away, she felt hands on her shoulders and before she could turn around Catherine had shoved her back into the nearest tree so that they were facing each other. Without anywhere to go she was forced to maintain eye-contact with Catherine and her heart leapt.

_No,_ Sara thought to herself, staring into Catherine's eyes. _Is this... happening because of Catherine? _She much rather would have preferred to have a heart attack.

Catherine stared into Sara's eyes to ensure she had her complete attention. She suddenly forgot what had caused such a brazen act of courage on her part. She wanted to devour the look on Sara's face.

"Are you going to tell me what the fight was about?" Catherine asked, keeping Sara's shoulders pinned against the tree.

Sara wanted to say no, she wanted to break free, she wanted to run away. But the look Catherine was giving her saw right through her and she couldn't say no. She was almost afraid to. "He touched me," she whispered. "I don't like being touched."

"You're letting me touch you," Catherine softly replied.

They both stared at each other for a long moment, before Sara felt Catherine's lips against her own and in a matter of moments she was seeing stars.

They ended up making out in the middle of the park until sundown.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: What did I say about faster updates? :D This is a little faster than I had anticipated, but I got the idea for this chapter late last night and just had to write tonight. As always, thank you guys all for your reviews. This is another chapter that picks up right where the last one left off. This one goes into detail about just how Catherine and Sara came to be making out until sundown. Heh heh ;) I hope you guys enjoy it :)**

The first kiss had felt like a dream. The first time their bodies met was electric.

Sara couldn't even begin to understand why Catherine had this sort of effect on her, let alone why she was standing here letting her kiss her in the first place. Her heart stopped for a moment before its violent pounding resumed. Electricity was shooting through every inch of her body and a very noticeable flush was beginning to creep up her neck.

She also figured that a great deal of tension (ie: arousal) must have built up in her nipples because suddenly she believed that she could quite easily put an eye out.

And the sensations weren't lost on Catherine, either. She didn't know what possessed her to kiss Sara-- it was like she couldn't stop her body from closing the inevitable distance between the two of them. The second their lips touched she let out a slight gasp; Sara's lips felt so smooth, like velvet, and that alone surprised Catherine simply from her rough-looking exterior. The next sensation she noticed was the taste.

Her first boyfriend had tasted like cheap cigarettes and a cross between feet and beer (needless to say he didn't last long).

The taste of Sara was sweet but unique. She tasted like strawberries and honeysuckle, yet there was a distinct musk that was driving her absolutely insane.

When they finally broke away, after what felt like hours spent in slow-motion, they both came back to reality. Sara scrambled to cover up the deadly spikes now peaking out of her shirt around her chest. In her haste she looked around for the first thing she could find and picked up the textbooks she had dropped. Sara had always had a flat chest, and up until now, she had never had any reason to wear a bra.

Catherine backed away far enough so that she could no longer feel the heat radiating off of Sara's body. But she quickly noticed that that hadn't helped, as it just gave her a better view of her firm biceps and the muscles along her abdomen.

"...I'm sorry," Catherine said after a minute. "I... don't know why I did that."

Sara managed a laugh despite the awkwardness of it all. "I didn't exactly say I minded."

Catherine's head snapped up at that, and suddenly she didn't feel quite as embarrassed. "You didn't?"

Sara shrugged a little, a silly smile on her face. All of her anger from before was gone. "It was better than the alternative-- if you had continued making me angry you'd be bleeding right now."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Well then I'm glad I decided to act against my better judgment."

"Aren't you?" Sara grinned. Catherine felt butterflies dancing in her stomach at the sight of the adorable gap between her front teeth. It was one of Sara's only features that didn't make her look threatening.

"...Say Sara," Catherine tried to sound casual. "Would you like to continue the rest of our walk?" Under any other circumstances she would've bolted out of their the second she could for fear of ruining her reputation. But for now, she didn't. She didn't think Sara was someone who was going to blab it all over the school, and she wasn't quite ready for their time together to be over, yet.

Sara looked down at her shirt from behind her textbooks and saw that the coast was clear. Satisfied, she just shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

--

"You need me to help you carry those?" Catherine asked Sara, motioning to the textbooks she was lugging around. She had about three or four, and they had to be getting heavy.

Sara quickly shook her head. "No thanks." She had underestimated the effect that Catherine's presence had on her, and suddenly found that she needed them again.

"You sure?" Catherine asked, "I've got a backpack I could throw those in."

"Positive."

Catherine nodded, clearing her throat. They had gone back to small talk again. It was amazing how quickly everything changed when she was with Sara. Not even an hour ago they had gotten into an argument-- a _heated_ argument-- and then ended up sharing a kiss. Now they were back to barely looking at each other.

Scrambling for conversation topics, Catherine recalled what Sara had told her about the fight earlier that day. She told her she didn't like being touched. That in itself rose tons of questions in Catherine's mind-- had Sara been abused? Did she just have a natural fear of physical contact?

"You look like you've got something on your mind," Sara broke the silence, which surprised Catherine.

Catherine smiled a little, shaking her head. She decided to lie. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering what that was all about back there. The kissing and all."

Sara tried her hardest not to show the hurt in her eyes. Did Catherine regret it? Of course she regretted it, she then thought. Things like that didn't happen to people like her, especially not with people like Catherine. Someone who seemed perfect in every way and could have anyone they wanted. She would have to be out of her mind to choose Sara.

The self-degradation was hurting herself more than Sara would've liked to admit. She was used to hearing negative comments toward herself on a regular basis. But she didn't want to believe that Catherine was someone like that. She didn't want to believe that she could never be with Catherine.

"Do you regret it?" Sara asked her, starting to put her walls back up. She needed to be prepared before Catherine let her have it.

"What?" Catherine blinked. She finally turned to look at Sara and noticed the hurt in her eyes almost immediately, despite how hard she was trying to hide it. "Oh, no, it's just..." she sighed, throwing her arms up in the air, "Confusing. I mean we were both just so angry and then it went from a fight to... _that_."

"Yeah," Sara nodded, letting out a sigh in relief. "I guess it is a little confusing."

Catherine stopped in the middle of the park and just looked at Sara. She could tell it was freaking her out a little bit, so she explained, "You know, it's strange. Seeing you when you're not in bad ass-mode."

"What makes you think I ever switch off?" Sara scoffed, almost offended by that comment.

Catherine shot Sara a sickly sweet smile that almost melted her right then and there. She took a few steps toward Sara and Sara immediately took a few hesitant steps backwards.

Catherine stopped when she was right beside Sara's ear. She leaned forward, her breath hitting the back of Sara's neck sending shivers up her spine. She whispered, "I think you have a softer side to you that you just don't like people to see."

"...And how would you know?" Sara squeaked out, her voice almost failing her. The pounding of her heart was now out of control.

"Because I just do," Catherine whispered back. "I don't think you're always this tough. I think this is an act you put on to scare off other people. I think there's a part of you deep down that's a really sweet, caring person. A part of you that shows who you really are."

She was too close, now. Sara couldn't breathe.

She immediately pulled away and got a safe distance away from Catherine. She placed a hand over her chest and felt her heartbeat. She immediately retracted her hand as if something had burned her. Nothing had ever made her react like this, not even her father chasing her down the hallways. Nothing had ever made her feel this way.

And that alone scared the shit out of her.

"Are you okay?" Catherine asked, concerned. She had allowed Sara to move away and tried to give her some space. But the way she was acting was beginning to worry her. She was beginning to think that maybe Sara really _did _have some sort of heart condition. "Sara?"

Sara closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. She felt like she was about to throw up. She felt faint. She could feel a thin layer of sweat beginning to cake her forehead. It drove her nuts knowing that it was all just because of Catherine.

"Sara?" Catherine tried again, this time a bit louder. She took a small step toward her. When she didn't react, Catherine took another step toward her. "Sara," she tried to get her attention by placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Sara flipped around so fast she looked like a blur. Before Catherine could comprehend what was going on their lips were together again. The sound of books falling to the ground faintly registered. She could feel Sara's arms around her neck keeping her from pulling away.

As if she would ever want to.

This second kiss was more intense than anything either of them could have ever imagined. Sara had suddenly gained more confidence and was initiating the kiss this time rather than just standing frozen like a statue. Her tongue traced the outline of Catherine's bottom lip and without asking for permission she began to explore her mouth.

Catherine was more than willing, but decided she would do a little exploring of her own. She untangled her hands from Sara's hair and started to move them down her neck to her back, caressing the strong muscles as she did so. She could hear some sort of a grunt coming from Sara and she took that as a good sign and continued.

Her hands moved down to hug Sara's hips and they finally broke away from the kiss when they remembered they needed to breathe. They both stared at each other, absolutely breathless, but before either of them could speak they were back at it again.

It was Catherine's turn again. But instead of simply going in for a kiss, she lunged at Sara and tackled her by her midsection. This time Sara wasn't anticipating the blow and tumbled over onto the grass with Catherine laying on top of her. They realized they had been on a hill when they started rolling downwards.

When they finally stopped Sara was laying on her back and Catherine was back on top of her, straddling her hips with her own. They couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing at the stupidity and ill-timing of it all.

Two hours later they were laying on the hill together side-by-side, staring out at the orange and purple horizon as the sun began to set.

Sara had her arms crossed behind her head and a smile on her face. It wasn't common that she was this happy, but she was gladly savoring every minute of it.

"Hey, Cat?" Sara asked her.

Catherine smiled at the mention of her new nickname. They had only spent a day together and they had already established nicknames. "What is it, Sar-Bear?"

Sara groaned, closing her eyes in anguish. "Please don't call me that."

"Why not?" Catherine teased, sitting up. She moved closer so that she was leaning over Sara. "I think it's cute."

"Kill me, please," Sara muttered.

"I'm not going to do that," Catherine whispered. "So just suck it up and live with it." She leaned down slowly and gently kissed Sara's lips.

Sara returned the kiss, glancing up at Catherine as they pulled away. "Catherine... what's going to happen?"

Catherine raised an eyebrow, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean with us," Sara explained. "For example, tomorrow at school... is everything just going to go back to normal? Are we going to be sworn enemies strictly by stereotypes? Are we going to act like we don't even know each other?" She was honestly afraid of the answer, but she knew it was something that was going to have to be asked eventually.

"No," Catherine furrowed an eyebrow, becoming more confused. "Unless that's what you want?"

"Of course not," Sara told her. "It's just... we're completely different. I'm viewed as the misfit who can't do jack-shit right, and..."

"...and I'm the perfect, popular student," Catherine finished Sara's thought, understanding what she was getting at now. "Do you really think that matters?"

"I don't know, does it?" Sara asked, hating herself for feeling so emotional. She had only known Catherine for a day, and already she had managed to worm her way inside her heart. She hated her guts at first, and now she wasn't sure what she would do if Catherine rejected her.

"I coudn't care less about what people think, Sara," Catherine told her. "As far as I'm concerned, they can all go to hell."

Sara raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Really? You're not worried about your reputation? About what people would think about you being... gay?"

Catherine sighed, laying back down beside Sara on the grass. "I'm not going to lie to you, Sara... I am a_ little _worried. But not worried enough to just kick you to the curb. That's a really bitchy thing to do, and if I recall, I made it a point to tell you that I'm not a bitch."

"Okay," Sara nodded. "So... you're really okay with this?"

"Yeah," Catherine nodded. "Are you?"

"Yeah," Sara answered, shooting Catherine a small smile. "But just so you know... if you turn out to just be using me, I will seriously kiss your ass."

Catherine chuckled at that, playfully swatting at Sara with her arm. "Well I'm not, so I'm not worried."

"Good," Sara smiled, turning to glance back at the sunset. The sky was beginning to get darker now.

"So... how long have you known?" Catherine asked.

"How long have I known what?"

"That you were a lesbian."

Sara shrugged, still gazing out at the horizon. "I don't know. I never really thought about it. I just figured that when the right person came along, I'd know, and to hell with genders."

She spun around when she heard gigging. "And what is so funny?" she asked, unsure of whether or not she should be angry.

"No, it's just," Catherine tried to make herself stop laughing, "There's that part of you again. The part that I mentioned earlier."

Sara quickly turned away to watch the sunset, glad that the reflection of the purple and orange of the sky would camouflage the blushing of her cheeks.

"I can still see that, you know," Catherine whispered, laying back down on the grass beside Sara.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Oh be quiet."

Catherine's laughter continued until the sun finally disappeared.

--

"You should probably get home," Sara told Catherine, getting to her feet and dusting off her jeans. She walked up the rest of the hill and gathered up her textbooks, right where she left them. "It's getting late. Your mom will be getting worried."

Catherine waved it aside. "I'm my mother's daughter. Coming home late doesn't worry her." She got to her feet and stretched her stiff muscles. "What about you?"

Sara shrugged, trying to act as casual as possible. "I don't have a curfew."

"Yeah?" Catherine asked, slinging her backpack over her shoulder from off the grass. "No curfew? Your parents sound pretty cool."

Sara didn't answer that. Instead, she changed the subject, "How about I walk you back to your car?"

It took until then for Catherine to remember that her car was still parked in front of the ice cream shop. She shot Sara an appreciative smile. "Sure. Then I'll give you a ride home."

"Sounds like a plan," Sara smirked back.

As they winded their way back through the park, their hands found each other.

**TBC**


	13. Chapter 13

**Warning: This chapter deals very strongly with the subject of self-harm. If this subject makes you uncomfortable, I suggest reading something else.**

**A/N: I truly am sorry for the lack of updates on this story guys. I've been focusing on my other Catherine/Sara story right now, so this one has been neglected and I apologize for that. But I want to thank everyone who's still been reviewing and reading and has been patient with me :) There's only going to be one or two more flashback chapters after this before the story moves back into present time. This chapter is mainly just a random little tidbit from Cath and Sara's relationship. I hope you guys enjoy it :)**

As much as she hated to admit it, Sara just couldn't deny how heavenly the smell of Lily's home-baked cookies was.

After school that day, she had met up with Catherine and together they walked together to her house. This had been their daily routine now for several months, although it didn't take but a week or so before they both realized just how strong their instantaneous bond was. It started out with Sara helping Catherine with her calculus homework in study hall, then Catherine inviting her over after school to watch a movie until finally they ended up going to her house every day after school, occasionally even on weekends.

Lily had started baking cookies when Sara would come over, and despite how she didn't want to try them at first, she instantly fell in love with her own secret recipe.

So it became a tradition. Catherine and Sara would walk to the house after school with their books, sit on the carpet in the den and work on finishing homework or studying for tests, even though Sara almost always had hers done already. Some fifteen minutes later, Lily would walk in with a big plate full of fresh chocolate chip cookies and between Catherine, Sara and herself, the plate would be gone before Sara had to leave.

"That's your fifth cookie," Catherine informed Sara who was getting crumbs on her English homework.

"Mmfghhsf?" Sara tried to reply, her mouth completely full.

"Nevermind," Catherine chuckled, poking her in the ribs with her pencil. "You really like those cookies, don't you?"

Sara managed to swallow, her hand automatically reaching for another one. "Are you fucking kidding me? Can you please tell your mom that these cookies are the shit?"

"Hey, remember what I said about watching your mouth," Catherine rolled her eyes. "Obviously I didn't cement it deep enough into your brain."

"You can try, but it's not going to do you any good," Sara told her, shoving the cookies into her mouth at record speed.

"Jesus, I should think about entering you into one of those competitive eating contests," Catherine told her, watching Sara in astonishment. Despite how many times she had seen Sara devour an entire plate of her mother's cookies in mere minutes, it never ceased to amaze her how hungry she seemed to be.

"Someone was hungry!" Lily suddenly appeared with another big plate of fresh-baked cookies with Sara's name written all over them. "You don't have to scarf them down dear, there's plenty more."

Sara smiled sheepishly at Lily. "I'm sorry Miss Willows, I didn't mean to be rude, but I love your cookies. You should think about starting a bakery."

Lily chucked, setting the plate down on the coffee table between the girls. "Oh, I don't know about that. But I'm just happy there's someone around to eat all these cookies. Catherine has gone on a strict no-carb diet."

Sara immediately shot Catherine a look. "The hell is wrong with you?!"

Catherine shrugged. "I really want to lose three pounds."

"Bullshit. You should think about _gaining_ fifteen or so."

Catherine loudly cleared her throat. "Sa_ra_, remember what I said about language."

Lily just laughed. "You two are a riot. Just don't eat too many cookies okay, Sara? You wouldn't want to spoil your dinner."

"Thank you, Miss Willows!" Sara called as she turned and walked away. "And don't worry, I wouldn't miss your baked zitti for the world!"

After Lilly had left the room, Catherine leaned in to Sara. "You know, you don't have to try so hard to make her like you," she whispered to her. "She's already nuts about you."

"Huh?" Sara asked in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm just being polite."

Catherine smirked, nodding as she got back to work on her school assignment. "Right, Sar. Whatever you say."

Sara rolled her eyes, but she didn't dwell on it. "Hey, can you pass me another cookie?"

"Jesus Christ Sara, pace yourself. You're not going to be able to eat dinner. What, do you have four stomachs?"

"Maybe," Sara grinned, holding her hand out. "Cookie please."

Catherine sighed in defeat, unable to say no to those brown puppy dog eyes. Grabbing a still warm chocolate chip cookie off the plate on the coffee table, she was about to place it in Sara's hand before she noticed the red marks covering her wrists, finally visible from under the long-sleeved shirt she had worn that day.

Dropping the cookie onto the floor, Catherine snatched Sara's arm instead, yanking it toward her.

"Hey! What the fuck, Catherine!"

Catherine slid the sleeve up over Sara's arm and her heart jerked at the sight of all the bloody cuts along her skin. They were all jagged and obscure and abstract, like Picasso had taken a razor to Sara's arm as his canvas. But Catherine's sadness was quickly replaced by anger.

"You told me you had stopped," she growled, dangerously low. Her hand was gripping Sara's wrist so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"It was a bad night," Sara replied, her eyes narrowing when Catherine's face simply hardened. "Catherine... let go of my fucking arm. This isn't the time or place for this."

Catherine shot Sara a glare, knowing that she was just trying to get out of having this conversation and that she was praying she would just forget about it later. But this time, that wasn't going to happen.

"You're right," she instead said, getting to her feet. "Get up."

"Cath, really, don't you think--"

"I said get _up_, Sara. That's a goddamn _order_," Catherine growled, keeping her voice stern enough so that Sara would understand she wasn't joking yet quiet enough for her mother not to hear.

Sara glared back at Catherine just as hard as she was glaring at her, but she complied, pushing herself to her feet in a huff. Although she had folded her arms across her chest, Catherine had grabbed ahold of her elbow and was dragging her up the stairs.

"We're going upstairs, Mom!" Catherine called over her shoulder for her mother's benefit. "Just be a sec!"

"Okay, you two!" Lilly called back. "Dinner's almost ready! Don't be too long!"

Once up the stairs, Catherine pulled Sara in front of her and shoved her toward the bathroom, making sure to stay behind her so she couldn't run away. Once she was inside, she flicked the light switch on and slammed the door, locking it behind them.

After opening several cabinets and drawers, Catherine found the first-aid kit and set it down on the counter. "Give me your arm," she ordered Sara.

"I'm not doing a damn thing. I didn't come to your place so you could lecture me," Sara shot back in defiance.

"I don't care _why_ you came to my house! You're in _my_ house, so you follow _my_ rules! Now give. Me. Your. Arm."

"You're not fucking touching me with that shit, Cath, so you can just forget it."

Quickly losing patience, Catherine grabbed Sara's arm and rolled her sleeve all the way up to her shoulder, her eyes blazing in anger when the angry red marks on her skin stopped just at her collar bone. Sara had promised her she was going to stop hurting herself, not make it worse.

"Stay still," Catherine growled, grabbing a gauze and dipping it into a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Stop wiggling! I'm going to clean them no matter what, so you may as well stay still and let me get it over with!"

"Are you dumb? I didn't fucking cut my arms for you to come along and play Nurse and make them better."

Catherine swiftly slapped Sara across the face, the sound of the smack ringing in her ears. Although she felt badly for hitting her, she was also furious at Sara for continuing to hurt herself.

Sara slowly turned to look back at Catherine, her eyes wide in shock, her cheek stinging and turning red from the force of her slap. Stunned from the act, she didn't fight with Catherine when she pushed her down onto the toilet seat and began to clean the cuts on her arms.

Several bloodied pieces of gauze later, Catherine sighed, looking up at Sara from her place on the carpet. "Look... I'm sorry for hitting you, alright? I really am. And I know it was a stupid idea, especially given everything you've grown up around."

She didn't get a reply, only two brown eyes staring down at her, waiting for her to further explain herself.

"But sometimes you're just so damn infuriating, you know? I mean you don't _listen_ to me, Sara. I told you not to hurt yourself anymore, and what do you do? You slice your arm up almost to the bone."

"I said last night was bad, okay?" Sara suddenly snapped. "What did you expect me to do? Just try and fall asleep to the soothing sounds of my asshole father smacking around my mother? It's a _release_."

"Of course I didn't expect you to do that," Catherine replied, her voice just as harsh. "But you could've _called_ me. I told you to do that whenever you got like that, Sara! Did I not say those exact words the last time this happened?" She didn't wait for a reply. "I said that whenever you felt the desire to cut, to call me! Whenever you felt like it, thought about it, you call me!"

Sara suddenly didn't have a retort to that. Staring down at the floor, she tried to mask the burning sense of guilt she was feeling by not acknowledging it.

"Look at me," Catherine told her, her voice much softer this time. When Sara didn't, she gently placed a finger underneath her chin and forced her to make eye contact with her. "Look at me, Sar."

Sara hesitantly made eye contact with Catherine, dreading the look of disappointment she was sure she would be met with.

"I love you," Catherine whispered. "And I don't like to see you like this. This..." she motioned to her arm. "This... hurts me, Sara. This sort of thing kills me. I can't stand to see you hurting yourself like this, and it hurts me, too. I know that things aren't easy for you, but you have other options. Instead of dragging something sharp against your skin, you can call me. You can come to my house. You can crawl in bed with me and talk to me. You don't have to bleed to cope with it." She paused a minute to allow her words to sink in, wondering if she was getting through to Sara. "Can do you that for me?"

Sara instantly broke down in sobs, lunging forward off the toilet seat to wrap both arms tightly around Catherine's neck. She felt two arms wrap around her waist and her sobs grew louder and came faster.

"Shh, it's okay," Catherine whispered, gently rubbing up and down her back. "It's okay, Sara..."

"I'm so sorry, Cath," Sara sobbed into the crook of her neck. "I'm so sorry for hurting you. I didn't mean to. I-I never wanted to hurt you..."

"Shh, I know, Sara," Catherine whispered. "And it's okay, baby. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. And I forgive you. I just don't like seeing you do this to yourself, because I care about you."

"I know," Sara choked out, nodding her head. "I know you do. It's j-just so hard to stop. I hate myself... Jesus Christ, I hate myself more and more every time I drag that razor across my skin, but I can't stop, Cath. I just can't stop!"

"Shh, don't say that," Catherine whispered. "Yes you can. You can stop, Sara. And I'm going to help you."

"I'll do whatever it takes," Sara sniffled, pulling away from Catherine for the briefest of moments. "I don't want to do anything to hurt you ever again."

Catherine smiled at that, wiping the tears away from Sara's eyes. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she said, "I'm very glad to hear that."

**TBC**


End file.
